


Levihan Oneshots

by Bisexual_Mess_99



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Sometimes Female Character, Sometimes Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:16:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28419747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bisexual_Mess_99/pseuds/Bisexual_Mess_99
Summary: as seen aboveart from @drinkyourfuckingmilk on tumblr and @larkei on ig
Relationships: Levi/Hange Zoë
Comments: 2
Kudos: 100





	1. Their Hair (AU canon-verse)

If there's one thing that Levi can willingly dedicate his time to- y'know, besides fighting for humanity -it would be to study anatomy.

Well, more specifically, hair.

Hange's hair, in particular, confuses him a lot and he could've sworn he's not any type of color-blind nor is there anything wrong with his eyes.

* * *

**_Gold_ **

It's gold like the crown on the Fritz king's head. And their hair only remains that color in the morning, at sunrise, when they're surprisingly awake (or hadn't slept) and they're on the field, training or experimenting with a pet titan when they have one.

Levi decides he doesn't like the color-

They look far too angelic, like the statues and murals in The Underground. And Hange's definitely everything but that.

"Leviii! Did you see that? It responded to me!"

"You should clean your glasses so you can see the reality better, four-eyes."

* * *

**_Black_ **

It's black when it's cold, especially when the snow is strong enough to reach Headquarters.

Levi stares at their usually brown hair, now black, as Hange pelts him with a snowball-

the rest of the cadets pause to stare,

Hange's the only one he'd let get away with that. He makes his way towards them; "You're cold," he tells them.

"I- well, yeah, obviously."

He pets their hair, it's dry as fuck- and cold. "C'mon," he grabs their wrist and tugs them back inside.

* * *

**_Light Brown_ **

Their hair only turns Light Brown when they're outside, beyond the walls. Usually it's dark brown, straight and wiry.

Levi figures that there really must be something about Hange's hair that turns it lighter when it has prolonged contact with the sun- or something.

"What is it?"

"What's what?"

"You've been staring at my head for like a few minutes now. If your horse weren't so professional, I'm pretty sure you would've been thrown off by now."

"shut up, shitty glasses"

* * *

**_Orange_ **

It's dark orange and wavy when it's wet.

The first time he notices is the first time he knocked them out to give them a bath, partially clothed, of course.

Levi didn't think anything of it, just says, "Tch," because it figures that Hange doesn't take care of their hair enough for it to maintain it's natural state.

"For the sake of science, Levi, I need to know. What is it that you find so interesting about my hair?"

"What do you mean?" he asks, pretending innocence.

"If you're not petting it, washing it, or combing it, you're staring at it. And it distracts you!"

Levi rolls his eyes, "Go to sleep. You're tired and imagining things again."

"Hmph," they lightly thump his bare chest with their fist.

Levi smiles, kisses the top of Hange's orange head of hair.

Orange also means that they're clean, they're well, they're safe and here.

He plans to keep them here with him, so maybe their hair will remain orange...

maybe


	2. Counterparts (Mage AU)

_First Name: Hange_

_Last Name: Zoë_

_Student Number: 350-0099362_

_Call Sign: Battle Angel 17_

_Element: Metal, Energy, Light_

_Mage Tier: 4_

_Star Sign: Virgo_

Levi raises an eyebrow after reading the contents of the screen.

* * *

Hange hums, "Interesting..."

_First Name: Rivaille_

_Last Name: Ackerman_

_Student Number: 350-008715_

_Call Sign: Speed Demon 32_

_Element: Geo, Lightning, Shadow_

_Mage Tier: 4_

_Star Sign: Capricorn_

"Wow, you're paired with another tier four mage?" Nanaba asks, looking over Hanji's shoulder.

"I mean, his last name is Ackerman, he'd probably be a five after we graduate or something."

"So are you gonna contact him?"

Before Hanji can answer, her student-issued tablet makes a sound, notifying the roomates of a message. "I guess he beat me to it."

Nanaba smiles, "Tell him he can come over, I'm leaving to meet with mine at his place. It's better to meet in the dorms than the library because that's where everyone else is going this morning."

"Oh? Okay, thanks."

The student-issued tablet is a communicative device exclusive to students of Eldia's Military-Mage Academy; it has the basic applications like the online library, online classrooms, moon phase tracker, planets and sun alignments, web browser and a messaging application. To communicate, one simply puts in the student number to add the person in your contact list.

_'Hi, I'm Levi Ackerman, your partner. Should we meet up before the classes start next week?'_

_'Hello! I'm Hanji. Sure, my roommate says you can come over to our dorm since a lot of people are meeting up at the library. Is that okay?'_

_'Your roommate's got a point. What room number?'_

_'4th floor, 78. Have you had breakfast yet?'_

_'No but I think I'll grab some on the way.'_

_'Take your time, it's still Thursday.'_

* * *

Levi knocks on the door that has the numbers _478_ embossed on a thick steel plaque. Since he has no idea what she looks like because they have no element nor classes in common, he doesn't really know what to expect. A girl with wet dark orange hair smiles as she swings the door open, "Hi!" she offers her hand.

He immediately feels his nerves calm down when he sees that she's freshly showered; he shakes her hand, only for her to pull back in a jolt.

"Y-ow! Ow, fuck! That hurts." She wrings her right hand.

Realization hits him, "Oh shit, was that me?"

Hanji shakes her head, motioning for him to come in before she takes off the wide intricate silver bangle in her right wrist. "That was me. My Energy magic absorbed your anxious energy, but your dominant element is Lightning, if I'm correct. As you can see, my silver bangle is my Channeller, therefore I got a little electrocuted, but I'm fine now."

Levi closes the door.

"Why'd you absorb my energy?" Levi asks, slightly mad at the possibility of his energy being drained without his notice. Clearly her dominant must be Energy if she's easily taking from other people without their consent.

Hanji sits down to continue her breakfast and Levi copies, unpacking his take-out.

She looks at him with a concerning frown. "I might be a tier four mage but... the thing is, I only recently got that rank because Professor Pixis noticed how powerful I am when I lost control during the one-on-one annual assessment. Before last school year ended, he had given me a stack of books about control, meditation and the correct distribution of magic. I read all of them- none were able to help."

He feels the frustration in her voice and he feels a bit sympathetic. "That's going to be a fucking unfortunate disadvantage if we run into Bandits or Scavengers."

Hanji sighs, "Luckily I read the curriculum for this year. Our first field assignment isn't until October."

"Plently of time, then. I can help you in the Training Pavilion sometimes, if you want?"

Hanji perks up, "Oh, would you? Is it true that Lightning Wielders have the best control of their magic?"

Levi shrugs at her as he chews his pancake. He watches her eyes squint.

"What's your channeller?"

"I have a sword," he deadpans.

Hanji raises a brow. "Uh, really?"

"Ancestral Channeller."

"At least it's not a wooden staff," she tells him.

Levi agrees, "Yep, or an old wand."

The rest of breakfast was spent in relative awkward silence. Levi wants to be comfortable around her but this girl is his total opposite with two of her elements opposing his other two: Metal and Lightning, then Light and Shadow. He's spent far too many sleepless night trying to counter her elements in the virtual battle simulator, and he's yet to succeed without losing a virtual limb. If he ever runs into her kind outside of the sanctuary of this little country, he's dead; maybe not very dead like dead-dead, but dead as in he's alive but he's dead.

Then again, she's his partner. Maybe they can work on being better mages together?

"Hey, what say we go to the training pavilion after?"

* * *

"Do you think you can use a light ray to cut through a shadow creature?"

"Of course."

Levi breathes in, feeling his magic ebb out as he exhales, wielding the shadows around them into the form of a lion; the way her hair had air-dried into a brownish thick mane might've been his inspiration. Unexpectedly, she rises from the ground seemingly bathing in the rays of the sun, painting for him a sacred picture of an angel wearing a hoodie and sweatpants.

She raises her arms before her hands summon orbs of light, her right hand aims and fires. His shadow lion's face is almost fully eviscerated and he can only wonder what great potential power they both would show if they were to put in their full effort.

"woah, it's so different from the simulator"

Levi for once, allows himself to show the smallest of smiles she's ever seen.


	3. Counterparts part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school for Military-Mages is the equivalent of High school and College (8 years), Levi and Hanji are 6th years and usually that's when the school decides to partner 'em up and let 'em go on field missions, usually transport jobs along with a technical evaluator (someone that's online and always available for them to contact for the duration of the mission, in this case it's Shadis and his job is to silently watch them but sometimes he just likes to yell at whichever unlucky pair he's watching).
> 
> 7th years get the defense/offense missions, like if bandits took over a small town or a scavenger stole some weapons.
> 
> 8th years get their first individual missions, usually they're requested by another allied country- in this story, some countries fight over territory so alliances are a must if you want your spell-ward to stay functional against the dead plants and animals.

"Hey," Levi greets as he enters the sun room.

For the past five years he's never been curious enough to visit other element-specific classrooms, but now that he's been paired with Hanji, both of them find themselves exploring other parts of the school for projects, practice and other academic purposes in the past two months. Levi finds the sun room's blinding brightness a bit of an eye sore, but being exposed to such a natural environment is feeding his Geo Magic quite pleasantly.

"What's up?" Hanji asks

"Did you get the email for our first field assignment?"

Hanji stretches upside-down on her mat, "I haven't looked at my tablet since Monday, Doctor Yaeger's second son is a metal wielder so he's paying me to tutor the kid before the firsties' simulator exam. By the way, do you know a kid named Mikasa Ackerman?"

"She's my cousin, why?"

"Ah, I met her a few days ago. It's so cool that you Ackermans are all Shadow-inclined. There's only a few families left in the world that have one element in common, is it nature or nurture?"

Levi shrugs her question and asks one of his own, "Do you think you have enough control of your magic?"

Hanji exhales, "I hope so. I wouldn't wanna lash out in the middle of dangerous territories."

"is what you're doing helping?" He looks pointedly at the channeller disguised as an anklet, it's turned inside-out to hide the air markings.

Hanji tones down her voice as she answers, "I hope mastering Air as my fourth element will permanently solve the magic reserve problems. The element is much calmer and less erratic than Energy or Metal."

"I've been learning something too," Levi confesses. His eyes roll to the back of his head, "Astral Projection," he tells her as his soul appears from beside his physical self.

"Damn! We're gonna be tier five mages! We're gonna be the youngest four-element wielders- and we're not even close to our seventh year yet, holy shit!" His partner screeches with annoying excitement.

"I tried to find a fourth element that doesn't make me a direct counter of you but Soul-wielding is the only one that came easy."

Metal wielders are required to be able to bend with the magic but Soul wielders are expected to have a sort of detachment to them. Geo means a more grounded personality while Air wielders are generally as free as they come in order to achieve unassisted flight.

Levi is thankful that his dominant element is Lightning with a Shadow passive; Hanji didn't need to tell him that her dominant is Energy with a Light passive. The only unfortunate fact is their opposing third and fourth elements.

Geo-Soul, Geo-Air, Metal-Soul, Metal-Air,

It will be very interesting to fight bandits, scavengers and the undead beasts outside of the sanctuary. They've only sparred against each other before but haven't yet fought together against an enemy.

"I came here to tell you that we have a transport job for our field assignment. Volunteer nurses that have dealt with putting down the 'dying' are needed in France."

The world-spread curse definitively raises the dead into a state of being that body-bends and functions like a bad experiment of a rookie necromancer. Necromancy has been banned for over a hundred years that there's even a world-wide system requiring registered Blood wielders to be regulated in their magic. Unfortunately, these undead beings grew in numbers in a matter of hours: from people to their pets and their plants, it grew a whole new species for scientists to study. Said scientists are even working with experienced Blood wielders to try and fix the curse but thirty years has passed and there's still no progress. They did identify some sort of virus that appears when the dead dies and comes back, but no other news aside from that.

The world eventually accepted that the new normal includes a group of rotting elephant corpses roaming somewhere in Australia- heck, there's even a Vlogging Channel dedicated to it that uploads every week.

The dead does not stay dead if they're not completely devoured by the undead beasts. Levi saw it first hand when his mother died of sickness- if his uncle didn't come to visit, Levi wouldn't be here today because he didn't know that a beast had taken his mother's place inside that bedroom.

It was like something out of a horror story, the way that his mother had bent her limbs in an inhuman way, desperate to take a bite out of him despite the vanity table laying on her. Kenny cried when he had to put his sister down, Levi didn't see it but he knew- he's old enough to differentiate drying tear tracks from sweat because Kenny also had to dig the grave himself. He didn't want Levi to help, which could be his way of mourning.

This first field assignment makes Levi cringe internally- he hopes that whoever these nurses are, that they wouldn't be talkative. If they are, Levi insists that they should talk about anything besides work, if he's lucky maybe they'll get the hint.

* * *

"What's your score in the driving test?" Hanji asks him.

Levi looks at her, "We're leaving the country tomorrow and you're only asking me this right now?"

Hanji shrugs, "Just so I know that we're not gonna crash."

"Tch," Hanji watches him wordlessly scroll through his phone before showing her the screen. It's a screenshot of his driving test- 97% out of a hundred.

"I only got an eighty-four cuz I was jumpy during lift-off," Levi rolls his eyes, Hanji pouts. "You're so judgy," she states.

"I'm driving tomorrow."

"Fine, I'll have the second shift... So what do you Capricorns do when the full moon is in your sign?"

"It's different for everybody," Levi answers

"I know that, okay- let me rephrase the question. What does Levi Ackerman do when it's a full moon in Capricorn?"

"You're not gonna drop this until I answer, are you?"

She gives him a wide grin.

"The Main Building's rooftop- that's where I re-charge. Before you ask, I use eight black candles and Himalayan Salt for the ritual circle. I cleanse in the bath before going up, and I stay there until an hour before sunrise. Then I give thanks to my ancestors before I sleep," he recites.

"Thank you for telling me."

"That's about as personal as it's gonna get. Don't expect me to tell you every little thing about me, four-eyes."

She chuckles, "One time it was a full moon in Virgo and an upperclassman invited me to go night-swimming in the Mitras River because three of them were Virgos too. I agreed, I didn't think that her friend group included guys but the experience wasn't too strange, I guess."

Levi frowns at her, "How old were you when that happened?"

"I was a fourth year. I'd say I'm old enough."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you're still agreeing to stupid plans like that. The river isn't as safe as you think."

"Are you worried or something? That happened, I've experienced it and I'm not doing it again. You're so grumpy, don't stress over our assignment- we're tier four Military Mages, darling. Soon to be five, at that. Who or whatever runs into us is dead meat, guaranteed!" she tells him confidently.

Levi believes she's only saying that because she's never had to see one of those beasts get killed before but watching those censored videos of the undead is like a past time for him. Bandits or Terrorists use the undead beasts to invade smaller towns while Scavengers can be friend or foe- depending if the scavenger wants to enter a country for sanctuary or not.


	4. Rose (AU canon-verse)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loui - warrior  
> Liam - protector
> 
> Ages of the characters during Historia's coronation:  
> Rose - 16  
> Mikasa - 19  
> Eren/Armin - 18  
> Levi - 37  
> Hanji - 35

Today is Rose's sixth birthday, she knows this to be true because Uncle Erwin says so during breakfast and he's never been wrong yet. Rose is sad though, because it doesn't feel like it's her birthday; this morning, her mommy and baby brothers were crying quietly again but Rose remembers that she needs to ignore them and go get herself ready.

Father is already gone that morning; he is training outside where the sunrise is painting the sky a bleak, solemn picture. Rose makes her way to Father when she's finished her breakfast, and he calls her over to the grounds.

"This is called a dagger," Father shows her the steel, "This is for defending yourself, first; defending the other people you care about, second; and defending the weak, third. Be selfish because anyone else that doesn't fit into those three categories would never care for you in the least, and if you can't defend yourself, then you won't be of much help to anyone else."

Father holds her hand so she can grasp the handle, "Grip it firmly, like this. When you attack your opponent, remember your anger and all the emotions that you feel in that moment. You can stab them or slash them with this knife, let your emotions be the fuel behind your strikes but remember to think beforehand- you cannot afford a mistake in any battle. Only an idiot would make a mistake because only idiots cause their own deaths. Analyze- you think of where your opponent would be hurt in the most lethal and crippling manner and you make it possible for you to hurt them. You observe, and once you have an answer, you go in for the kill."

At some point during the slashing and stabbing drills, Rose starts sniffling because she wants to cry at how tired the exercise is making her; there is already unadulterated anger in Father's face, Rose knows without a single doubt that Father very much wants to hit her but he refrains, smashing his fist against a tree trunk instead. She winces before sobbing completely, letting out all the sadness weighing on her shoulders.

She didn't know at the time that her Father's already dealt with an emotional train wreck last night because mommy tried and _almost_ succeeded in drowning herself in the soldiers' communal baths; that, and the fact that Rose's baby brothers were left unattended and unfed _again_ made her father extremely angry. It wasn't anybody's fault that mommy is suffering from post-partum depression, but it's been a year already and Rose still hasn't seen mommy smile again.

Father dismisses her but lunch in the mess hall has already passed, which meant only a loaf of bread and a cup of tea that she didn't even finish would have to sustain her until dinner; she tells mommy about her problem of course, and mommy had no qualms giving Rose all of her untouched food since she didn't want to eat anyways.

* * *

Her sixth birthday, to the date, remains the worst day ever that Rose can recall, because that's when her mom kept wanting to kill herself while Rose's weaponry training officially began. Father's friends, Auntie Nanaba and Uncle Mike, would train her when he couldn't, but she still hates it because all the good _'Ready to Eat Meals'_ would have already been gone by the time she's dismissed for lunch.

* * *

Father takes the twins away to some caretakers living behind Wall Sina when it became obvious that mom isn't getting any better; the twins were just three months away from their second birthday, yet their mom still hasn't made any progress. The caretaker-couple did question the bastardry of Rose and her baby brothers but they understood the situation and they didn't act like most of the privileged inner-wall residents.

It wasn't till a year later:

Shiganshina's tragedy and Wall Maria's subsequent fall turns into a wake-up call that pulls mommy to the light and away from the _almost-three-year-long_ post-partum depression. Rose is eight, almost nine when she and her mommy visit the twins in Sina- her baby brothers are already three years of age. Mommy smiled a genuine smile for the first time, but it was a sad smile.

* * *

Rose stops Armin from restraining their friend with a small, challenging, playful smile forming on her lips as Mikasa jumps out of her seat, enraged from the display and ready to attack Captain Levi in defense of Eren. Unfortunately though, before she can pounce to deliver a punch to the infamous strongest soldier of humanity, Captain Levi, running purely on instinct, does a full three-sixty degree vertical barrel roll kick that's extremely similar to what he performs when he's on air, usually to propel his body into an unstoppable spinning motion with a speed so inhuman anyone who blinks would've missed it.

It's not solely Eren who receives the blow.

Rose's eyes widen in utter shock, her back straightening as Mikasa is thrown three feet backwards; before Eren could react, Rose hops over to stabilize a shaken Mikasa currently leaning on the witnesses' rail. She didn't take into account the fact that Mikasa could be the one to get hurt, she thought the two could demonstrate some defensive maneuvers or something; how foolishly childish of her, Rose thinks, berating herself.

"What the fuck," Rose says out loud, catching everyone's attention.

Captain Levi only scoffs, "Sit down, brat."

"You just kicked my friend in the gut!"

"Rose," a gentle scolding voice calls out. Squad Leader Zoë appears immediately to assist Mikasa's other side, knowing full well that the new graduates are barely healed from the previous events in Trost. Together they're able to get Mikasa to sit down again, then Hanji focuses on the task of ending this one-sided brawl. "Back to the task at hand. I believe the point that our dear Captain is trying to make is the fact that there isn't any other military branch more experienced in taking down Titans than the Survey Corps, Yeager should be our responsibility."

General Darius Zackly clears his throat, "Yes, I think the demonstration is more than enlightening. However, I believe we're going to need more than Captain Levi's promise as reassurance that the Survey Corps can handle dealing with Yeager should he become a threat. Rose... The prodigy, was it?"

Rose nods once.

"As the daughter of Captain Levi and Major Squad Leader Zoë, your private life is not as private as you think. Your parents have been pushing for you to join the Garrisons or the Brigade, yes?"

Levi's eyes stare intensely at nothing while Hanji seems to have suddenly frozen in their seat. The rest of the 104th Cadets hold in their shock at the identity reveal of Rose's parents. "I'm afraid in order for the council to grant the Survey Corps' request, you must join your father and mother in handling this strenuous and sensitive task."

"You mean you're forcing me to the Survey Corps to babysit someone two years older than me, and possibly kill said someone?"

"Yes."

To her parents' horror, Rose gives the audience a smug smirk, "It's a deal," she states.

* * *

"Rose! What were you thinking, intervening like that?"

"Father was going too far, and it was Mikasa who intervened- not me!"

Some of the cadets from the 104th are unashamedly eavesdropping from the closed door of Captain Levi's office. Moblit spots them as he's walking down the halls and he starts backing away, feeling like this is a family discussion that nobody should be intruding on. Nifa, on the other hand, giddily pulls Moblit to continue forward as their arms are linked.

"And you! It wasn't necessary to drag it out, those royal ass-kissers got the point when his tooth flew out!" Mikasa nods her agreement at the Major's words.

"The General didn't see how those royal garbage reacted- they're not all as smart as you. We can't all connect the dots and do the math; the stupid shitty council makes a lot of retarded judgements!" Captain Levi says harshly.

Rose scofs, calling him out, "Retarded judgements? Well, You didn't have to kick Mikasa too!"

"I fuckin' know that, and I'm sorry, alright? I was angry at your friends because of the recent events, and I'll apologize to the stupid girl personally," The Captain admits with a hint of irritation.

"My friends didn't even do anything-

"They influenced you to be a rebellious piece of shit!"

"Levi! Don't speak to my daughter that way. You've been very unlike yourself lately- what is going on with you?" 

"She's my daughter too," Captain retorts instead of answering the question.

"You're angry, she's never your daughter when you're angry... but I'm sorry," the squad leader apologizes, their tone confusing the eavesdroppers as the Major went from scary to subdued. "Please tell me when I'm being a recluse again, I can't start doing better if I don't even notice that I'm doing worse."

"Mom, you don't have to be depressed again because of me; please understand that I was always going to join the Survey Corps, no matter what you or Father have to say."

"Come along kids," Nifa whispers, hinting that the 104th recruits should probably leave. Lest Captain Levi opens his door and find them there, then they'd be really sorry.

* * *

Petra gathers the girls as she leads them to their bunk rooms; "We want to explain something to all of you so that you don't unintentionally trigger Rose's parents..."

Mikasa, Sasha, Historia and Ymir look at Petra to continue but it's Officer Nifa who speaks. "My Squad Leader suffered from terrible post-partum depression after giving birth to Rose's younger brothers."

The news of Rose having siblings is new to them, since Rose is always the listener of the group and hardly ever talks about herself. "Captain Levi visits the caretaker's home as often as his schedule would allow because Hanji-senpai couldn't bear seeing their children too much in the beginning," Petra tells them sadly.

"Rose didn't really get along with her father during those years as well; he wanted to train her to be so good that she'd live comfortably as a Brigade Police but she was and still is a kid to be taking training too seriously. The mother and daughter emotionally shut themselves off for a good three years; not talking to anyone, practically starving, almost always upset, barely bathing..."

"What happened to Shiganshina reminded them that they needed to be strong," Petra claims as if it's her belief.

"Uhm Senpai... I've always wanted to know... What is Rose's age?" Historia asks.

"She's thirteen and her brothers are eight which means her brothers never met their mother and sister until they were three," Nifa answers sadly.

"Does everybody get a call-sign?" Sasha curiously pipes in.

"Rose is given the call-sign _'Prodigy'_ because no one is sure yet in which parent's path she'll follow," Petra states.

Officer Nifa smiles fondly, "Because she ranked first, the consensus around the Brigade, Police and Corps is that she'll take on Captain Levi's mantle as Humanity's Strongest but I think Rose is smarter than people give her credit for."

Nifa used to take her time during lunch hours so Rose could join her after her drills with Nanaba and Mike, often saving the girl some of her favorite chocolate pudding; the girl's sweet tooth reminds everyone of a younger Levi. She once asked Rose why she's never called Levi 'dad' once, and the girl simply said _"There's a difference between who he is and what he isn't, until he takes the time to understand me- to truly understand me, he's just a father."_ That answer made Nifa tell Hanji her suspicions that Levi's being too aloof and unattached for Rose, making her grow an estranged relationship with him, but considering Hanji's depressed state at that time, Nifa didn't really think it helped achieve anything- except maybe bring the mother and daughter closer together, and driving Levi into putting his full attention to their sons instead.

* * *

Hanji likes Levi's ponytail that hides the undercut when un-tied, they like it even more when the long individual strands of white hair make an appearance whenever he lets Hanji comb their fingers through his hair. What Hanji really loves though, is his stubble that appears in the morning every Saturday like clockwork, "Please don't shave it off," the Squad Leader pleads as her fingertips brush the underside of his jaw.

"Nooo..." Levi whines sleepily.

"Just for today? Pleaseee? We can go visit the twins and see how they'll react," Hanji suggests.

"If they like it, I'm not keeping it. You know how I feel about facial hair."

"That could change, you have little more than five years to turn forty, shorty. Soon you'll be too lazy to shave, and you'll be forced to open your eyes to the practicality of facial hair-

Levi wraps an arm around Hanji so he can twist them into facing him, "Practicality? There's no such thing as practical facial hair- it's itchy, bothersome and just another stupid thing to maintain."

"I don't know... you look a lot better to me with your grumpy-ass face half-covered." Hanji chuckles at his expense.

Before Levi could retort, a knock interrupts them; "Mooom? I'm gonna go visit the twins today, do you wanna go too?" asks the sing-song voice of their daughter.

"Great minds think alike, eh?" Hanji tells Levi before answering, "Yes darling, I'll go too! Wait for us in the mess hall, okay?"

"Okay!"

Before Levi could urge for them to get up, Hanji speaks on top of his bare chest, "I'll probably never tell you again but... when I gave birth to the twins... I felt dissociative because it was like I fucked up again. I felt like I was burdening us by having not just one- but two more kids for us to take care of. The fear of failing to be a good parent to all three, and the fear of keeping them safe just planted itself so deep into my gut- I felt like the smallest, most powerless human ever. I hated myself so much... You made the right choice to take them away from me, but I think the day where I won't be all insecure about motherhood is close. I'm not there yet but... almost."

Levi momentarily stops petting her hair to place a kiss atop her head, "Thank you for telling me."

* * *

Rose often thinks that her careless, flippant attitude with a matching deep-seated want to raise chaos came from her father who made her learn how to hate enemies in an early age but in reality, she concludes that it's only her father's physical features and physical strength that she got from him. Her father's fighting style can be trained and ingrained into anyone's brain that's willing to learn it but her mother's chaotic- and dare she say, sadistic- laughter born from torturing bastards is not something one learns.

A lot of people behind her back always calls her a beautiful rose, but not all are aware that the Rose has thorns; poisonous ones that can either take their time to kill you or end you in one fell swoop.

She inherited a lot from her mother, including the short temper but excluding the ability to calm down in an instant. Her father never should've taught her how to harness that hate if there's no one ready for her to unleash it. Rose isn't like her parents because she wasn't raised to have self-restraint; her father, Uncle Mike and Aunt Nanaba wants her to fight until the end, they want her to never give up, given that they were referring to fighting Titans, Rose applies this rule to everything in her life, wanting her friends to do the same.

"We're not giving up," Rose tells Mikasa. Mikasa, who turns out to be a relative, later on. Now, her calm, collected and focused side is truly what came from her father as he normally waits patiently to strike his enemies, scrutinizing them all the while. Father is the one who always plays smarter, not harder- because Rose's mother is the farthest thing from subtlety, having no ounce of cunning and organized planning in her body.

She wonders if her brothers have any plans regarding the Training Regiment in the near future- they're turning eleven years old soon, just the age she was when she signed up. Her comrades were all older than her, but not by much, so she still fits in even if they are eighteen to twenty years of age and Mikasa also just had her nineteenth birthday. Eren still hasn't realized Mikasa's feelings for him, and sometimes Rose really wants to just force their faces together.

* * *

"You're pregnant? Again? Are you for real?" Rose asks incredously while in the close quarters of their family ensuite, pushed onto them by the newly-crowned Queen. "Dad, you're pushing forty, can't you hold off on the whole reproduction process?"

"I'm so sorry, Rose." Her mother starts tearing up which makes father and daughter panic, thoughts flashing back to the past.

"No, no, no- don't cry, mom! I take it back, you having another baby is a good thing! I can have a sister this time!"

After her mother retires for the night, Rose approaches her father warily as he's drinking tea in the common room. "Uhm, Dad? Now's probably the prime time to tell you that Loui and Liam wrote me to tell you that they're enlisting..."

"What?"

"Well, technically they've already enlisted. Since Shadis knows who they are, the twins convinced him that you guys already knew..." Rose shrugs, "The twins wanted it to be a surprise."

"I'll certainly be surprised if I visit to pay their caretakers tomorrow only to find that they're not there anymore, little shits."

"Are you gonna tell mom? It's just that... I don't want her to be sad again or anything."

"I see... Don't mention anything until after I do it first. Let's see how the next few months go..."

"Okay."


	5. Rose part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kind of a continuation of 'Rose'

Levi looks at his sons and his daughters: Rose, Loui, Liam and Cheli, all of them black haired and silver eyed. It seems as if Hanji had been determined not to leave any trace of themself in their children.

He couldn't bear to look at his eldest in her eyes to deliver the news- they both cried nonetheless but she refused to talk to him ever since, unless the topic is about Cheli. The boys were a lot more understanding, they weren't as close to their mother as Rose had been but they understood the tediousness of being a militial family the moment they were handed over to caretakers.

The twins still don't know that their mother had Post-partum depression and Rose silently agreed that it's better not to sully their memory.

Levi couldn't help but wonder- did Hanji have depression again when they were faced with the Colossal Titans? Is that why she sacrificed herself without a second thought?

It's near twenty years since, he really shouldn't let himself ask such dark questions or he'd never be able to sleep.

* * *

Cheli is innately curious- an insatiable mind thirsting for knowledge. With the ability to comprehend a textbook at five years of age, Rose simply couldn't wait for her sister to become a renowned genius.

Sadly, her hopes for the girl is dashed the day Cheli found the Memoir.

 _'Dedicate Your Heart, A Memoir to Commander Zoë of the Survey Corps by Her Majesty, Queen Historia Reiss and Commander Armin Arlert'_

"I want to be a soldier like mummy."

Rose sighs heavily because no, she refuses to put her sister in any kind of situation that requires sacrificing her life or the lives of countless others.

* * *

Loui is a like a newer version of their father. His speed and style with the 3DMG are uniquely his own, it's nothing similar to what their father ever deigned to teach.

His obsession with keeping track of his gas usage, dedicating hours drawing out new aerial formations and training himself to be fit enough to be faster than a bullet is all very intriguing.

Armin tells her of all this like he's talking about having seen the progress of a foreign specie. Rose couldn't believe that he had the audacity to offer Loui the Colossal Titan before he passed- even if it was in jest.

"Please, I was never even curious enough to consider it!" Loui convinces as he finishes his tale.

Rose sips her tea but realizes that Loui thinks like their mother even though he's never met her long enough to be subjected to a scientific discussion with her. She watches him fondly as he finishes his coffee, their mother liked the Marleyan beverage too.

These weekly visits remind her of when she was eight; back then, she had their mother all to herself.

* * *

Liam whose name meant protector or shield-

he shares with Rose the madness. The want for revenge once slighted, the need to hate and hurt someone freely because they deserve it- to punish someone or something because they should be. 

He came to her house with bloodied knuckles once and all she asked was if there's a body they needed to bury- his response was a laugh before he spoke.

"It was a Gang leader, of course there is."

"You don't need to help," he had said, but she did anyways. They were Ackermans, a noble family now- a renowned militial family that had duties and responsibilities.

It can't be said that one of Levi and Hanji's kid fell off the wagon and into a criminally fucked up life. She still has a reputation to uphold, and Liam's always such an independent loner.

She wants him to believe that he's doing good because nobody else would. Nobody would've taken a hands-on approach to managing The Underground Cities in its reformation; only Liam still cares enough because that's where their father grew up and he himself grew to love it.

He loves the people, the thrill, the chaos and the work that awaits every time he dons that Brigade uniform.

If only he knew that their mother had the right temperament to fit in quite nicely in The Underground as well. Rose still can't calm down once provoked but her patience had grown from when she was a teenager.

* * *

"Isn't it beautiful?"

Cheli is standing before her, dressed in Paradis colors with the red of the Garrison dominating in reference to her years of service.

"Is this an army-issued wedding dress?" Liam raises a brow.

"It looks great, doesn't it?" Loui smiles.

"Oh my goodness, Liam! Only you would show up here with a black eye. What the fuck happened to you?"

"It's not that bad, I'm alright. It's healing so don't worry about it, Cheli. What I'm worried about is the distinct lack of gold in your wedding dress-

Rose scoffs, "She's a Garrison, not one of your Golden Puppies."

"Brigade Police," the twins say to simultaneously correct her.

"This isn't issued," Cheli pats her gown nervously, "the Queen commissioned it for me. It's actually the first of its design."

"Is father here?" Rose asks because who else would have that level of friendship with the Queen?

Cheli nods, "I would hope so. I invited him, after all. The old man's walking me down the aisle."

"Holy shit," Rose is a bit shocked, "and he said yes? You know he walks with a cane now, right?"

"Duh, I'm the one that's been living with him, not you- and so what? He's still our father and it's nice to remind everyone that he's _The_ Levi Ackerman. I don't want the Queen to marry me off if my father isn't participating in the wedding too," Cheli reasons.

Rose doesn't respond anymore.

She still misses her mother but she feels guilty because her father probably missed their mother too. Rose should've talked to him more, should've told him that she stopped blaming him years ago and she should've fixed things.

Maybe it's not too late...

* * *

Levi looks at his children and _smiles_. Yes, to anyone who doesn't know them, his sons and daughters are nothing like their mother-

but to him, there's a piece of Hanji in each of them. Hanji's determination, Hanji's fierce curiosity and equally fierce passion, Hanji's caring heart...

They're going to be alright.


	6. The Shirt (motor racer AU)

She's a leggy bottle-blonde wearing a burgundy turtleneck inside a black jacket, dirty ripped jeans tucked in worn combat boots, a raggedy backpack and ruby red contact lenses.

"Do you mind taking those off?" Farlan asks, motioning his head to indicate at her eyes.

She pouts, "Why? It's part of the costume."

"But you're not in costume right now though?"

"It's Halloween, let me live my life, man."

Levi scoffs, "I'm leaving." As interesting as it is to watch Farlan argue with a stripper, Levi still has a race to get to and some wallets to empty. Besides the race, the fact that the wind is blowing freezing levels of cold air makes him want to go home just in case the weather fucks up his plans- and everybody else's.

"Fine, whatever. Keep 'em on, let's just go," Farlan hops on his dark blue Super Blackbird while the girl hesitates.

Levi rolls his eyes at them as he straps his helmet on, effortlessly mounting his own bike, revving it and kicking off in quick sequence. It's not like Farlan won't know where to go, neither of them are drunk but Farlan is probably tipsy for drinking the complimentary cocktails that comes with booking a table for three straight hours. Jeez, and they said pole strippers had it easy.

"Levi," a familiar voice with an amused undertone calls out to him as he parks. He flips his visor to be met with his Uncle's ugly mug, age lines prominent on his face 

"Tch, what're you doing here?"

"Well, let's just say that I have a horse in the race," Kenny gestures to the other side of the parking lot.

The parking lot is with its usual competitors, Ducatis of all colors and customizations litter the area with the ocassional Honda or Yamaha. His own bike's make and model is a mystery to everyone else since Levi personally customized it; he's always refusing any so-called professional mechanic's offer to help because truthfully they just want a look into his bike.

His gaze lands on a familiar figure, "Mikasa?"

"She wanted in," Kenny shrugs carelessly.

His cousin's bike looks to be a BMW S1000RR but he could be wrong, it's a trick of the trade for a bike to look like one model but have a different engine altogether. Mikasa, at least, looks like a proper road racer with an ensemble of spandex and leather.

"Oi, Kenny!" Farlan greets as he parks his own bike.

The leggy blonde immediately hops down, taking Farlan's helmet off of her and spitting helmet hair from her mouth. Kenny tips off his fedora, "who's the chick?"

"Chloe," Farlan answers the same time the girls says, "No One."

"What's new, man?" Farlan asks as the stripper hands him his helmet back.

Levi answers before Kenny does, "my cousin's here."

"My half-brother's daughter," Kenny clarifies, "she's an absolute delight!"

"Well, glad I'm not racing tonight-

"wait, you're not? So why'd you bring me here anyways?" Farlan's date cuts in.

Farlan wraps an arm around the girl's waist, "the food's actually good here, Chloe, free beer and entertainment too. This is like a legit first-date."

"Oi, Pixis' underlings are manning the booth," Kenny informs them.

Farlan smiles, "That's gonna be more fun because those guys actually like me."

Kenny concedes because it's partially true. The horn blares, calling the racers to attendance. "Later, kids," he says as he turns to leave before looking over his shoulder to address Levi, "Good luck, short-ass."

"A'ight man, we'll cheer for you. Right, Chloe?"

The bottle-blonde shrugs.

"Don't get high or I'm locking you out," Levi warns him but Farlan only chuckles as he escorts the leggy woman to the spectators' booth.

Farlan's lanky frame isn't easy to manhandle when he's high, made even more difficult when he's angry for no reason. Isabel had video evidence of him destroying Levi's tea set because of a deep seated dislike for _'yucky leaf juice'_ while Levi himself was running an errand half a state over. There was another different incident of Farlan engaging in a fight with a six-foot tall blonde man that made even Levi unconfortable, the blonde man introduced himself as Zackarias; he's a front-door bouncer that took a shift to watch the nightclub's back door instead so he can watch over Farlan as he slept against the back alley's dumpster until sunrise- which was surprisingly kind of him.

* * *

The route is pretty simple: from the abandoned drive-in theater going through Westside, left to Eastside, then an infinity loop around the town outskirts back to the drive-in. Three laps usually means that the management will be playing a one-hour type of movie from the 80's for the audience side-by-side next to the live drone-shot of the race for the bettors and the race manager.

It's one of Levi's best nights as he places first, Nile Dok doesn't seem phased as he hands over the thick envelope with an acknowledging nod. The envelope has a '#1' on it, written in black marker, Levi tucks it into his shirt wordlessly.

"Kingsley wants to t-

"not interested," Levi dismisses.

Dok glares, "Are you sure?"

"After the last job? Tell Fritz that he can shove his money up his ass."

Before Dok can respond, the runner-up finally arrives to the scene, it's Mikasa. He'd hate to pass on the burden but it would be nice to have a weekend that doesn't involve getting hounded to deliver some delicate packages to Fritz' equally shady acquaintances.

"Nice race, cousin. Better luck next time," he greets her with his rare smug smirk, empasizing the word to indicate their relation.

"Short-ass," she greets back, shaking her black hair from the helmet-induced tangles.

* * *

Levi finds his way to the back side of the drive-in theater, a familiar leggy blonde stumbles down the stairs with only moonlight and street lights to guide her. Fortunately for her, Levi had already gotten off of his motorcycle and was just in time to catch her stumble- her backpack lands in the dirt as she was holding it with one hand.

"Where's Farlan?"

"He's knocked out."

Levi raises a disbelieving brow at her as he steadies her, he refuses to release his hand from her shoulder though.

"Okay, fine, I knocked him out. Are all of you hot-headed or is that normal?"

Levi frowns, "He's high, isn't he?"

"I was watching a movie and the next thing I know, he's in a piss-poor mood for no fucking reason. It was a bit concerning because he's the only one I know up there, and if he tries to hurt me, I don't-

"You don't need to make excuses," Levi cuts her off.

Awkwardly, she picks up her bag and says, "Uh, alright. Thanks... I should leave."

Levi nods, she turns only to stop at the wired fence to take out her phone. She'll probably order a cab or whatever, he turns his back and climbs up the steel staircase to the booth.

* * *

He's making sure that his adoptive brother is sleeping comfortably with all his things still on him like his wallet and keys when Rico enters the booth, presumably to end the movie as she proceeds to the computer on the control panel.

"Hey, Farlan's asleep."

"Obviously," the silver haired woman looks away from the screen to spare Farlan a glance, "If he's sleeping here, he's on clean-up duty tomorrow."

"that's doable"

"Great," Rico says, turning back around.

Levi thinks Rico, at least half the time, probably wants to shoot several motor-racers with that beretta hanging on her waist. She's never done it though, luckily no one's crossed her yet to test it. Dot Pixis' other underlings weren't half as competent as the young woman, surveying the theater's manning booth, they're all either passed out or missing.

* * *

"Thanks so much, ma'am."

Levi's head snaps to the source of the voice- it's Farlan's former date.

"Oi, weren't you supposed to go home?"

"My phone died, then it just wouldn't turn on anymore. I recognized the diner but my apartment's actually all the way across town so Missus Elly's calling me a cab instead," she explains.

"Do you know her, Levi?" Erwin's mother asks.

Levi sighs, "I guess."

"Here, why don't you have a bit of a snack together," a platter of chicken nuggets is presented to them. Levi tries not to take all of it for himself- Erwin's mother is very well-versed in providing Levi's favorite treats when he had just finished a race.

"Oh, I couldn't-

"Nonsense, the cab wouldn't be here at least until thirty minutes, you've got the time and I've got the food," she says before following it up, "I'm going to call the cab now, ask Levi if you need anything, dear."

* * *

"So... Levi huh?"

"what?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. I didn't say anything," she attends to the can of soda she recently bought from the vending machine, avoiding eye contact.

"What's your name again?"

She stalls by biting on her second chicken nugget, "Ah... just call me Zoë."

Zoë? He's pretty sure that that's not the same name she had given to Farlan hours ago when she was still dancing lewdly inside a strip club. Or maybe they had just misheard.

"Happy Halloween, Levi," she raises her soda can to him, reminding him of the holiday before she unexpectedly pulls on her hair.

He watches as it turns out to be a very convincing wig, revealing her curly brown locks underneath. He pauses from his chewing, "that actually suits you better," he compliments.

Before she can reply, sounds of unforgiving and immediate rainpour permeates the air. After a few moments, someone enters from the raging storm outside, "Jesus Fuck! It's raining cats and dogs out th- Oh, hello Levi!"

"Mister Smith," Levi greets back.

"I just took out the trash, where's Elly?"

"She's calling a cab for me, sir. My phone died," Zoë answers.

"Ah, that explains why she never came back to the kitchen, must've went upstairs. We're not too good with technology so we don't keep our mobile phones on us while we work," he makes to exit, "I'll go check on her."

Zoë lets out a small squeak as a particularly loud roar of thunder booms overhead. Levi is secretly amused at the discomfort showing on her face, "It's just a storm."

"I know that."

When they've finished the platter as well as their drinks, Levi decides to ask her, "where do you live?"

"Uhm... Sadie Street..." she answers hesitantly.

He wouldn't be surprised if she's not telling the truth but the fact is that the street is seriously on the other side of the city. The city roads is a figure 8 around a diagonal line, and there's no way any cab driver is willing to risk driving on a slanted upwards path.

"I don't think I'm getting home anytime soon," she voices out his thoughts.

He wants to slap himself for what he's about to do but he does it anyways, "Do you want to come at my place? Farlan usually sleeps in my couch when his sister locks him out of their house."

"Oh? Uhm, okay. I'll take your couch, then."

Levi gets up, "I'll tell the Smiths."

He pays the old couple for the chicken nuggets before heading back down and preparing to brave the storm with Zoë. Neither of them brought an umbrella so being a candid gentleman, Levi draped his leather jacket above her head; "Put my helmet on as soon as you get a hand on it."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

His condominium is on the 30th floor, the rooftop ensuite of the building, which means he basically owns the entire floor. The couch he was referring to is a retracting bed in the massive living room- complete with floor to ceiling windows, and a flat-screen TV.

She sees him wince when her backpack starts dripping all over his carpeted floor, "Sorry."

"Can't be helped, give it here. We'll hang it to dry in the laundry room."

She hands it over to him and can't help but giggle when he power-walks barefoot only to pause once he's finally off the carpet, "Well, c'mon, idiot. Do you want to be dry or not?"

* * *

Although he didn't react when she took out her club uniform from her backpack, she can tell that he felt pretty awkward. Judging from his state, she figures that he must've had a second bathroom somewhere because both of them just ended up taking a hot shower.

"Here," he says as he hands over a phone charger, two pillows and a blanket- all white and clean.

"Thank you, Levi, for everything."

"Common courtesy," he says and leaves it at that.

She did feel a bit obligated to him so when he retired to his bedroom, she got to a bit of exploring in her quest to find the kitchen so she can repay him with breakfast tomorrow.

* * *

To his surprise, the woman whose name he can't seem to remember, is standing over the stove and expertly flipping pancakes with glasses in place of her red contact lenses.

"Bacon pancakes, I hope you don't mind."

"That was Farlan's bacon, he bought them and I don't eat them."

Her face fell, "Oh-

"I don't eat them usually but I'm not opposed. My diet usually consists of poultry, fish and beef."

She nods, but it's not like she'll ever have use of that knowledge again since they won't likely reunite after this.

Levi takes the offered plate from her hands so she can continue with cooking what's left of the batter. He grabs another plate from the cabinet after settling the pancakes on the counter before he sits on the stool, watching her.

His 'Freddie Mercury' shirt looks pretty good on her, as well as his dark green pajama pants even though it's short on her. The pancakes are probably all cool now but he's still pretty much staring at her;

"Why are you a stripper?"

* * *

She eventually answers his question after their breakfast, "Because I'm a broke college student, of course. Pre-med student, and I gotta tell you, the fees don't come cheap if you're studying in Sina I.C."

She watches his eyes widen in shock before he speaks, "That explains why you live on that side of the city, it takes you what, twenty minutes to walk to school?"

"Less if I'm riding the bus."

"And then you work in The Underground as far from Sina as possible."

She nods.

"I get it. You're hustling for your dreams, I respect that," he blatantly states.

She smiles.

"I'll drop you off if you want."

She shakes her head, "No, I'm fine."

* * *

It isn't until after she left did he notice a piece of paper in his living room, sitting innocently on top of the coffee table.

It's definitely her number.

 _'Call me if you need your shirt back,_

 _-xoxo Hanji'_ the note says.

After checking the laundry room, Levi only then realizes that the woman just stole his shirt.


	7. The Accident (college pregnancy AU)

Levi is trying to study for his preliminary exams when angry knocks at his apartment door come to interrupt, he gets up from the counter stool with a sigh. The knocks get more aggressive, annoying him, "what the fuck do you want?"

"Levi Ackerman, you _better_ open this door!" Nanaba calls out threateningly.

Her visit is surprisingly unexpected- but the sight that greets him is even more so. His girlfriend stands next to Nanaba, hiding and utterly failing in her attempt to make herself smaller. It's been weeks- no, months -since he last saw her.

She's wearing his not-so-missing M.I. University jacket with ACKERMAN 22 on the back in reference to Emmitt Smith, a respectable player that his girlfriend only remembers because he won _'Dancing with The Stars'_ that one time. Levi raises a brow from the questionable fashion choice of pajama pants, pink socks and sandals that his girlfriend decides to wear out at night.

"You fucked up," Nanaba angrily tells him.

Levi steps back, giving them the option to enter, "I don't even know what I did," he reasons.

Nanaba manhandles her bespectacled friend into his living room, "tell him, Hanji, or I will."

Hanji whimpers and Levi notices her tear-stained cheeks, this makes him worry because not a lot can make Hanji Zoë cry. "Can you at least leave? You don't have to watch, God, Nana," she whines.

Nanaba huffs, "she better not come back to our dorm still crying, Ackerman."

Levi puts his hands up in a show of surrender, Nanaba gives Hanji one last look before slamming the door as she exits, "what the fuck happened to you, four-eyes?" he asks.

Hanji doesn't answer him, she doesn't even look at him, opting to crawl to a spot in his couch that's farthest from where he's standing. "Tch, at least tell me why you're here, idiot," he says before he quiets down and realizes that she's been silently crying this whole time.

Very confused, he walks over to comfort her- he swears to God, she better not be in any serious trouble; he wouldn't know what to do if she was. Due to not having seen her since early on in the semester, he can confidently say that he's missed her terribly and immediately felt content after initiating the hug.

She embraces him too, after a few seconds; she tries to stop her crying enough to look up at him, watching. It's not until after he sits himself down next to her did she deign to speak. "Levi... I'm pregnant," she murmurs.

"what?"

He hears her swallow, "I'm pregnant, it's yours. Remember the cabin, before school started?"

Levi pauses, his eyes widening as he recalls the memory, "Oh shit..." She takes his left hand to place it on her stomach and he feels an unmistakable baby-bump that isn't visually obvious yet.

"Levi, what do I do?"

That's another red flag to him because she usually never asks him what to do, embodying the whole _'independent woman'_ shtick that he loves. When she does ask for his input, it's usually what he thinks but never outright instructions.

"What do we do?" he repeats. "What do we do? Hanji, we graduate. We stay in school and we graduate, but this means you'll have to put off Med-school and temporarily settle for a Pre-med degree. I'll have to get a job as soon as possible, and you can move in-

"we're keeping it?"

Levi's stare snaps onto her so fast, "what? yes- yes, of course we're keeping it. What did you think? Were you planning to get rid of it?"

"It's too late _now_ ," she whines before continuing, "but no- I never even considered abortion when I found out. M-maybe adoption because I didn't think you'd... want it," Levi can hear the guilt on her tone. That must've been why she's avoided him for two and a half months!

"I want it," he firmly says. "It's going to be alright, Hanji."

The news did shake his resolve but it's better to panic later and settle things with Hanji now because this situation won't progress if both of them go into a spiral. It's funny that after a few moments of cuddling in the couch, his girlfriend is calm while Levi is internally freaking out the way only a Capricorn-thrice over could.

She yawns.

"C'mon, let's get you to bed," Levi jostles her position from his chest but she snuggles him further.

"carry me?"

He rolls his eyes, "why not?"

She lets go; he stands up, leans down and feel her arms wrap themselves on top of his shoulders the same time as her legs bracket and subsequently lock behind him. His hands casually haul her up by the ass and she buries her face between his neck and collarbone.

"Missed you," she murmurs softly as she kisses his skin.

"Tch," he starts to walk, carrying her significantly heavier ass to the bedroom, "don't ghost me again, shitty-glasses."

"I won't, short-ass. I promise," her reply pulls on his heartstrings, he's missed her so much that at one point, he'd thought that she was planning to break up with him.

She should never have had to feel insecure in their relationship in the first place, "I love you, you dumb bitch," he amends.

She laughs- another thing he sorely missed, "love you too, Levi."


	8. Counterparts part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time skip from part 2  
> Levi and Hanji are now 8th years  
> Mikasa is a 4th year  
> Eren, Armin and the rest are 3rd years

_"You know it's my turn to show-off, right? So, please... Let me go."_

_The computer screen's blinking red numbers read 96% and he knows that the survivors can't afford to wait after they hurried to get the airships ready. The undead man-eating hybrid-clan of giants and centaurs are closing in on them; it seems like she's already made up her mind._

_He feels hopelessness like never before._

* * *

Levi looks up at the moon, it's a new-moon in Virgo tonight. New moons symbolize volatile energy, and not once did it ever serve Hanji well to be exposed to it. She normally does so well in keeping control of her magic ever since her mastery of Air-wielding but due to the volatile nature of new moons, as well as being an Energy-dominant mage, she unconsciously siphons energy.

If she doesn't find a way to use and properly release that bottled-up magic, Levi won't be surprised to find her in no state to train the next day, instead, she's curled up in the position of a fetus.

* * *

_"I could do this forever! Hahahaha!" Hanji gleefully tells him as their combined Lightning and Energy blast creates an electric-powered ray that both of them can control._

_There's a concerning shine in her eyes as she turns to him. To his surprise, she grabs his hand while they're still blasting a shadow-target and he's momentarily shocked by the electric surge.The two previously separate rays of lightning and energy instantly merges together from their hands, and the color of the ray turns from light blue to purple before settling to a darker electric-blue._

_Hanji makes a sound akin to a banshee's battle cry, Levi winces for his poor eardrums but internally shares her glee at the newly discovered power move. He couldn't help but notice that the new ray created by their linked hands is easier to control and seems more concentrated in its power as it easily eviscerates the shadow targets one by one with unwavering, smooth ease._

_They were seventh-years then, and they had just survived their first real life-threatening battle against twenty-or so bandits with a threat level of 3 over 5._

* * *

It hurts mages when they can't let out their power, because their magic resorts to attacking the magic-reserve located in the stomach area just so the magic has something to fix. It's either holding it in or losing control, and the last thing Hanji needs is to lose control in the face of the undead clan of 60-meter tall Giants and 30-meter tall Centaur-Lords.

The students accompanying him on this airship were part of the last batch of survivors when Maria's Military-Mage Academy were invaded this afternoon. His cousin, Mikasa, is surprisingly here as well.

"Why aren't you with the rest of your year mates?" he asks after lift-off.

She stares at the three-other airships that are flying alongside them; "I couldn't leave my best friends," she tells him.

He doesn't speak again until around twenty minutes later, when the radio comes to life; "Attention all Triple-M Pilots, we have received a distress signal south of your location," then in an informal manner, the voice on the radio asks, "does anybody have a rank high enough to, uhm, decide what to do?"

South of their location means back in Maria, hope flares anew- it's not impossible, right?

"This is Captain Levi Ackerman speaking. I have reason to believe that you're receiving a distress signal from someone in Maria, correct? A distress signal can only be sent by a Military personnel, and all four of our airships are carrying the last survivors. Can you pinpoint the location of the distress signal?"

"Ah, yes, Captain! Right away, sir!"

* * *

"Onyankopon, position the Airships into Reverse-Spade formation, I'm going for the distress signal. Mikasa will have control of my airship and will trail not too far behind. If I don't return within the hour, retreat full-speed ahead to Rose," he says to the communicator.

"Understood, Captain."

Beside him, Mikasa composes herself from the surprise, "But Levi, I've never-

"The airship is on autopilot, all you have to do is steer to keep to the formation. Can you do this for me, Mikasa?"

His cousin bites her lip in obvious nervousness, "alright. But come back, cousin."

* * *

His form weaves from shadow to shadow to find her as fast as he can-

he knows it's her.

He uses Geo magic to feel for any life in his immediate vicinity, fearful of overlooking her in his haste. He's about to use soul magic in his desperation when he feels it-

His form slips out from the shadow, and he vaults himself with an earth-pillar shooting directly from beneath his feet towards her direction. "Hanji!"

* * *

Even when she's barely conscious, he can feel her giving him energy when she should be healing herself, it's unfortunate that neither of them are well-versed with any healing magic. He does the next best thing and wills his shadow magic to consume her-

He's greatly attuned to her magic by now that he can detect her light magic trying its hardest to resist, "Hanji, don't fight it," he pleads to the woman in his arms.

"I can't help it, Levi... I'm sorry," she manages to say before subsequently passing out.

Once she did, he takes his chance and full-on focuses on pushing her to the shadows. He follows and brings her unconscious, still-fighting form into the shadow of the farthest tree he can see.

When they arrive there, he continues- he's transporting himself and an unconscious passenger whose light magic is fighting with him and it starts taking a toll on him by the time he's moved them three more times.

But he reaches the shadow of the airship anyways, and it only took him twelve moves. He transports them inside with one last burst of energy, severely drained.

Hanji's form is the first to slink out of the shadows, earning a gasp from the young passengers- some of them likely haven't seen shadow magic done before.

Levi feels like he's been worked on two fronts- because he was. Mid-way to the airship, Hanji's energy magic simultaneously fought with her light magic. It didn't want her form to spend time in the shadow realm so her magic started siphoning his energy.

Fortunately, they're both alive.


	9. Faithless Bastards (married AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't condone cheating but I needed to address this topic after listening to 'Driver's License' for however many times because it keeps appearing on my tiktok's fyp.  
> So basically Oluo-Petra / Petra-Levi / Levi-Hanji / Hanji-Zeke / Zeke-Pieck / Pieck-Porco
> 
> yes, they're all cheaters, Petra's married to Levi, Hanji to Zeke, Pieck to Porco

**I. Appointments and Rain Checks**

"Doctor Jaeger, your five o'clock is here," the voice from the pager says.

Hanji couldn't hold back her grin, "ah, send them in, Moblit. You can go home now, I'll lock up."

"Alright, thank you."

Hanji logs out of her social media just in time to see her favorite patient push the door open, entering the room connected to her office.

"Lazy day?"

Hanji yawns, "if by lazy, you mean seventeen kids getting vaccinated, a first-time expecting couple, and a cheerleader with a swollen ankle- then sure, lazy."

The man rolls his eyes fondly at her sarcasm, "did you at least have lunch?"

"What do you think?"

"I think Berner's underpaid for having to take care of a literal child-doctor."

Hanji sticks her tongue out, crossing her arms as she leans back on her swivel chair, "how was your d- oh wait, you defended at court, today, right? How was it?"

"Successful," is all that he says.

"That's great, Levi-

The grumbling of her stomach interrupts her, the man sighs, "how can a woman be so smart, yet so shit at taking care of herself?"

"I don't know, you tell me, Mister bigshot-lawyer-

She's cut off again by the sound of her phone ringing, they both read the screen and Levi's eyebrows raise at the caller id. She puts it on speaker as she answers, "yes, Sasha?"

_"Hey mom, can you pick us up? Annie got beaten, and she's got a nasty shiner. She also has a concussion because she hit the door on the way out- I was shocked too, the other girl was really good, and get this, the girl who beat Annie is a taekwando newbie!"_

Hanji looks at Levi while Sasha spoke, he gives a nod with a small smile, indicating that she should go. "Okay, honey, I'll be right there."

_"Can we grab ice-cream on the way home? And some fries too maybe? And a slushie?"_

"Alright, kid, alright..."

_"Yes!!! Thanks mom, see you soon!"_

Levi smiles, "so your daughter's still a hot-head, I see."

Hanji shrugs, "can't be helped. Her instructors all love her though, meanwhile, your daughter still has your sweet tooth."

Levi sighs.

The day Hanji found out that Sasha is prone to iron deficiency, she stole a hair sample from him and did a DNA test. Iron deficiency is the cause of Levi's pale skin, random bouts of migraines as well as anemia. Luckily, Sasha didn't have severe symptoms- just that she gets tired more easily, resulting in her willingly wanting to eat more.

Hanji's husband doesn't suspect, mostly because Zeke Jaeger only knows of him but never formally met him. Nobody except her and Levi can know about Sasha's true parentage.

"Jaeger's not home yet, right?"

"He's building some sort of Airplane in Marley, of course he's not home yet. And stop referring to him like that, I'm a Jaeger and have been for years now," Hanji says as she gets up from her chair.

Levi grabs the collar of her white, yet stained coat, "I'll call him whatever I want," he says before bringing their lips together.

She melts into the kiss, his teeth biting her bottom lip for entrance and she complies easily. The kiss is sinful, pleasurable, and wrong _but so right_. Hanji never once said she regrets letting him go when they were freshmen separated by a three-day flight from her Med School to his Law School, but Hanji doesn't think she has to tell him that.

After all, this affair began because of her-

days before his wedding, nonetheless. Does she feel any guilt? or any shame at all? It'll be twenty-years too late to answer that question- it's self-destructive to care about it, at this point.

* * *

**II. First Dates**

Annie looks up at her boyfriend, Armin, then she looks at his phone again, back to him, back to his phone. This repeats until he opens his mouth,

"I'm sorry, Annie."

She laughs; she has the same laugh as her mother, _"sweet and infectious,"_ her father had said. She's laughing hysterically like a mad woman, and she wonders what her mother would think of this picture now presented to her.

It's her father, bespectacled blonde and blue eyed, holding hands somewhere in Marley with a black haired bitch, and to think that he had just sent her mother a silver necklace for Christmas last year, as well as a matching silver bangle for New Years' -the audacity of that man! Her mother's right, maybe they should've flown to Marley for the holidays and surprised Zeke Jaeger for one heck of a dramatic family gathering.

She laughs until after the five-minute bell is finished ringing. She laughs until the tears are all gone. Then she smiles, a sad smile before placing her books on Armin's locker and walking to the exit.

It's not the first time she's ditched school.

* * *

**III. Better Tomorrows**

"I'm sorry, Oluo... but I... I really can't d-do this anymore-

He stares at her teary face before he nods with full acceptance, "I knew you'd finally get sick of me..."

"I love Levi, okay?" she's shaking, though.

"Of course you do, you're married with a son and a second one on the way; I'd be worried if you didn't."

"don't... don't start"

"You'll never see me again, you get me?"

"I'm happy for you," but Oluo can clearly see her eyes shining with unshed tears.

" _Sheesh,_ " he states, "I'm happy for me too, Petra. Are _you_ happy? for yourself?"

Petra nods, she finishes her lunch and leaves. Oluo looks at the space she previously occupied and thinks, _'Well, that's one more reason to never return to this shit-city.'_

The company is making him move across the country, from Trost all the way to Orvud. His move starts in a few weeks, he only wishes it were sooner. It's better to drown in his work than to drown in something else.

* * *

**IV. Needing light**

"Pieck."

The woman startles, half-jumping into the air. She smiles, "Oh, Porco. It's just you."

The man nods, "just me. Where have you been? Our daughter's been waiting for you all day, and I'm pretty sure she hates kindergarten."

Her warm smile is unwavering, "I told you, work's been hectic lately."

Porco grits his teeth, "of course."

Maybe she knows that he knows about the lunch dates she's been having- maybe or maybe not. He badly wants to confront her, but his heart hurts at the possibility of it being true. It's unthinkable, why would she cheat on him?

She wouldn't, it simply _couldn't_ be true.

She walks further into the living room. The moon gives light on her face; his heart clenches and his throat dries at the sight of her lipstick smudged on the bottom left corner of her lips.

He closes his eyes to stop the tears, he stands up and hurries to the stairs, straight to his office to open the drawer where a pipe and some weed can be found to give him some comfort.

He's numb.

* * *

**V. Hypocrite**

"Do you take me for a fool?" Levi asks

"N-no, of course not."

"Last time I checked, your father was a brunette, your mother was a red head, and my family all had black hair. Since when does that result in a blonde baby with blue eyes?"

"I... I don't. I'm sorry-

"After a paternity test confirms what we already know, you can keep that brat but I'm not spending a single cent on her," he decides.

He only has one daughter in this lifetime, and he never had to spend any amount of money on her either.


	10. Wings of Freedom (Ackergenes AU)

"What do you think of a test tube baby being experimented on illegally?"

Hanji raises a brow, "what kinda question is that?"

The black haired male shrugs, but she can tell that he wants her to answer. She kisses the area between his collar bone and breast, slipping an arm on the right side of his body and nuzzling him, breathing in his musky scent to lose herself on the post-coital bliss.

"I pity the fool that'll try to experiment on you, baby," she answers after she yawns.

"It's not me..." her 'baby' says quietly just as she was falling asleep.

"Hm?"

He wriggles out of her embrace, sitting on the bed with his back turned to her, and Hanji tries to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Levi, what's wrong? Is there something going on at work?"

"There was a scientist whose wife cheated on him. The wife died giving birth to twin boys, but the twins were very weak. The scientist didn't want to be responsible for the kids, so he decided to let them develop inside an aquarium type of test tube. He planned to let the twins grow until they were capable of taking care of themselves but one day his assistant made a mistake..."

Hanji sits up as well, not mindful of the cold air against her breasts and upper stomach as she listens to her boyfriend's story. It's not odd for him to talk about work, he's a cop, after all, and despite policies about confidentiality, he'd tell her about his cases if they were particularly stressful.

"The mistake was spilling bleach into the feeding tube, the assistant didn't know that the tube was still connected and tried his hardest to save the kids. As a last resort, the twin boys were given the regenerative properties of an axolotl, it succeeded and the experimenting didn't end there. The scientist found out, and more happened..."

Levi looks over his shoulder, his expression careful as he continues, "the eyesight of a hunting eagle, the speed of a diving peregrine falcon, the superior metabolism of a hummingbird, are you seeing the pattern?"

"Uh, birds?"

"Yeah," Levi nods, "the scientist was obsessed with them. The twins, they're my relatives from the Eldian Uprising, precisely one-thousand and five hundred years ago."

Hanji's eyes widen when Levi slouches and two long cuts suddenly materializes on his back. She gasps when wings unlike any other bird's slowly comes out from the cuts; the right side is a dark blue while the left is pure white. The shape and size is unique, it's also large and proportional to Levi's physique.

Hanji realizes something, "when your clan motto says _'Fly for Freedom'_ I guess you meant that literally," then she asks, "does that mean Mikasa has wings too?"

Levi nods, "she does... My mother died because she went too long without using her wings and the regenerative properties couldn't keep the wings restrained."

All the sleepiness left her as she asks with wide eyes, "How long is too long?"

"Ten years, give or take. My Uncle, Kenny, destroyed every evidence of our existence before the Eldian government could digitalize the information. He's in prison because they're still trying to figure out what he erased- I know they even tried torturing him. Now, Mikasa and the rest of our clan is trying to find a way to get him out."

Hanji nods, "I wanna help too. Let me know if there's anything I can do."

Levi nods, "I appreciate it. There's something else, Mikasa's not really my cousin, she's just from the same clan. The Ackerman genes just registers us as cousins, and someone from the Ackerman clan can't reproduce with another Ackerman because it always results in a child with disabilities. It could be unretractable wings, blindness, haemophilia, severely low metabolism, or a type of cancer- there's always at least two or three, one case even had an enlarged bloated head as well as all five."

"was there another Ackerman that you liked enough to research all this?" Hanji couldn't help but ask.

Levi lets his wings hug him, like a bird hiding from the cold, "No, it just came up when I was reading the files my Uncle compiled. If we had children, those kids would have eighty to ninety percent of my DNA instead of the usual fifty percent or so. The Ackerman genes are constantly dominant, my mother even matched my grandfather's DNA with a startling ninety-four percent. Kenny said it must be why it got really bad for her when she repressed her wings for that long."

Hanji takes all this information in, eventually moving to gently place her head on his lap so she can directly look at his face.

"I want to trust you because we've known each other for six years now," he says softly.

"When I met you in that college frat party, I knew _I_ could trust _you_ -because you were holding Isabel's hair back while she threw up and then you gave her a pretty long lecture that even got me self-conscious as I overheard it from outside of the bathroom," Hanji confesses as she kisses his pecs. "Speaking of which, do your best friends know?"

Levi's hand starts to pet her head, "Farlan and Isabel accidentally found out when we were in High School. I was flying home, sneaking into my room during a storm and they were right there. Aside from them, nobody really knows- I think Mikasa's going to tell Jaeger and Arlert soon though."

"Ah, I'm sure it'll work out."

"It's hard to trust people, especially now when the clan is reduced to eighteen people as well as Kenny having gone through the trouble of disposing every old documents he could find."

"I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me, thank you."

They've only been dating for about five months, but knew each other since he was a third year in Criminology Major and she had been studying Political Science as. freshman. She has plans to proceed to Law School someday and become an attorney eventually; she knows that sometimes she cares too much that it is _factually and ultimately_ overbearing, but she wants to fight for the common people that deserve justice. Getting herself into physical fights wouldn't solve anything, but as a lawyer, her mind would be stimulated while also legally fighting for something she believes in.

She knows there isn't much she can do to help with Levi's case since she only recently got promoted to Assistant Financial Advisor to the City Manager but, "I'm not lying though, if there's anything- even if it's illegal -I'd help you. In fact, if you can tell me where your Uncle's being held, I can probably provide you a map to help break him out of there."

Levi's silver eyes connect with her brown ones, there's a sad hopelessness in him as he says, "I believe you... He's not being held anywhere in this city or the Rose Region in general, Mikasa's father suspects they've moved him to Mitras... or worse... The Underground."

Hanji bites her lip, "I can still help," concern seeps through, "how long has he been in their custody?"

"It'll be nine months tomorrow..."

"Levi, now I definitely know that they can't keep him that long even if he did supposedly tamper with files belonging to the Eldian Government. Do they have proof that he even did something?"

"What are you implying?"

"If they have no proof, if there's no hard evidence that incriminates him- you can legally make a case to get him out."

Levi is silent.

"Well?"

"...I see."

Hanji sighs, opting to change the subject, "your wings are really pretty. Why is one blue and the other one white?"

"The bleach and the axolotl had to leave some sort of mark, I guess. White for the chemicals, blue for the sea? I don't know either, but everybody else has the same wings. They only differ in size, so we can actually fly," he explains.

It's good that he's the one talking a lot, for once, because Levi is never talkative. He always prefers actions to words, which must be why he showed her the wings so she doesn't only have to take his word for it.

The wings are really amazing.

And she knows she'd do anything for him to remain free.


	11. Awestruck (AU canon-verse)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five times Levi felt unnecessary awe because of Squad leader turned Major then eventually Commander Hanji Zoë
> 
> and that one time Hanji is awestruck by him.

**i.**

A fortnight after the deaths of Farlan and Isabel, Commander Shadis starts noticing that Hanji is someone the former criminal can tolerate. Erwin, in passing, casually asks if Levi is amenable to working with the scientist; it's Levi's mistake for presuming that the man meant that it's for a government-sanctioned experiment, project or research. Levi didn't think he'd be placed in Hanji's squad, and Erwin even said that Commander Shadis thinks it's a good idea.

Levi does not agree.

Hanji's squad members are thinkers, kind of like himself. They do not fill the silence with unnecessary small talk, the Squad Leader does enough of it for all of them; they are silent observers, suspicious and paranoid of every shadow passing the corners of their periphery.

Once the laboratory work is done, they eventually do talk but their talking is... not something Levi can include himself in.

nor does he want to, at the moment

Levi admits he's out of his depth here, because even the three women in he squad are knowledgeable of whatever is going on inside Hanji Zoë's lab. He's always tasked to do some heavy lifting, quite literally as some metals and chemicals that they work with are too heavy for just one person to carry. He's on his second week but he's still clueless about what the woman is exactly doing; there's some steel, some crates, some barrels, there were even a couple of broken Maneuver Gears that he had to take apart. She writes everything down; Levi knows how to read some and count some, but not at their level and he can't even write legibly-

their writing looks like interconnected loops to him, and there's no hope of him comprehending it.

"Hey, Hanji. What're you even working on?" he's young, tactless and naive.

The young woman- no, overgrown teenager, grins, "I'm improving the gear, designing a special titan capturing device, and inventing some explosives."

Levi nods, thankful that it was late and they were alone so nobody really heard his stupid question.

"Levi... I... I noticed that you've been staring at the papers lately but... howcome you still asked about what we were doing here?" the woman asks.

"tch" he turns to leave-

but she grabs him. "You know... if you don't know how to read, I'm willing to spare a couple of hours every weekend to teach you..."

There's one problem with that though, the idea of someone witnessing him being taught how to read by someone younger than him- and a girl, nonetheless -makes him cringe.

He says no.

The next day, she offers again, he says no.

The day after that, she offers again, he says no.

On the third day, he says no. On the fourth, fifth and sixth day, he says no.

On the seventh day, they're alone together again, she offers-

"And we can do it here, after the experiments are all done. Every Friday, before bed," she adds before he can say no.

He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either. The truth is, he's got nothing better to do in the barracks since sleep refuses to come to him, and it feels emptier without hearing Farlan's snores despite the other foot soldiers trying to make up for it.

So then, it starts. Every Friday, she'd take the time to stay in the lab and he'd take the time to learn.

Reading print is easy, as well as writing it. Cursive lettering is trickier as people had their own styles- if someone else taught him how to properly read and write, Hanji's own cursive would probably be severely unrecognizable.

He sticks to printed lettering, and makes it a point to make it as neat as possible.

After his third expedition, he's able to finish reading and re-reading the mundane book entitled 'The Titan Who Could'. He remembers when those fancy looking letters intimidated him so much, but he could even read the whole book a third time without problems.

"You could keep it, if you want," Hanji tells him.

Levi stares at her, nods once, "Thanks."

* * *

**ii.**

He's out of gas, and he remembers Erwin scolding him about using too much; Levi forgets how small those cannisters actually are, but now that he's standing with only hills, grass, the sky and a single dying tree available to him, he remembers.

He chucks the useless thing as if it's spiteful of him for forgetting it, then he hooks onto the rotting bark and starts climbing.

The tree is old, it's tall and stands off-center of the hill. He reaches the top but he would've fallen if he put his weight into that dead branch that just snapped off.

The last titans he was previously dealing with were quick to attention-

"Fuck."

He's going to die-

"Leviiieee!!!"

or not.

"What're you doing up there, shorty?" his squad leader asks as her hooks embeds themselves onto a third titan's shoulder blades.

"I'm out of gas."

"Oh? tired already?" a triangular cut of flesh flies from the titan's nape, she grins as her stepping stone falls face first.

Before the dead titan can hit the ground and start evaporating, she launches herself to the next titan closing in on him.

"No, four-eyes. My gas cannisters are empty," he clarifies.

He watches her laugh that annoying laugh while she flies and lands on another, much taller, titan. She easily kills it as well.

"Well, we've always known this was going to happen-

"Who the fuck is 'we'?"

"Only the whole squad, of course." She deals with the last titan and swings herself to the tree trunk, "it won't hurt you to try and learn our way of maneuvering with the gear, you know."

He says nothing.

"Hop on, then."

"what?"

"Or grab on, I guess. You're not getting back to camp if you're out of fuel, Levi. So get on or grab on, your choice."

"tch"

Later, Lauda admits to having been the one who spotted him but she couldn't help him due to the titans she had been dealing with. Hanji's quick and deadly strikes are because she doesn't want her precious titans to suffer in their final moments.

But what really fascinates him when he does start to randomly show up to adhere to their squad's training schedules is the fact that Hanji Zoë has her own unique and completely different style of maneuvering as well.

It's comparable to a cat, really. She'd tuck her legs in before she lands but she does the _same_ barrelrolls that he does, _and_ her half-flips are way more aggressive than his!

Why is her gas usage and management better? Why?

"Maybe it's because I'm lighter than you, clean-freak. I guess you'll just have to watch closely and spot our differences for yourself."

He makes him learn again. (but he never figures it out, even though the answer is staring at him in the face all along) Nevertheless, her style never ceases to intrigue him as it constantly changes over the years. (to accomodate her height, weight, speed and action)

* * *

**iii.**

Three years ago, he was promoted and given the title 'Captain'.

Two years ago, Hanji received the title 'Major'.

One year ago, Shiganshina was attacked.

After the fall of Shiganshina and subsequently Wall Maria, the Military Police Brigades' funding declined terribly, not as terrible as the Garrisons and not even half as terrible as the Survey Corps' but terrible all the same. Commander Dot Pixis suggested, with the backing of Erwin and Nile, a socializing event for the military to mingle and make their case to the nobles. The Councilmen and Advisors of the King readily agreed to it as they also could use some of the nobles money; the overwhelming numbers of refugees hosted in both Rose and The Underground are alarming.

Surely, the nobles will understand that their luxurious lifestyle is being threatened? yes? no?

Levi doesn't know the answer and doesn't care either. He sighs as he tugs on the necktie that recently replaced his cravat a few moments ago. Mike steps through the wide ballroom doors first, and Levi assumes he's found a 'target' when he immediately loses sight of the tall man as he dispersed into the crowd. Levi did spot Erwin talking to an ageing woman with two or three clumps of gray in her hair, so Levi sends a nod and carries on.

Fortunately Erwin didn't assign Levi to a designated target, which means he's free to do as he liked for the night-

well, no, the Commander did ask him to "be pleasant to anyone he can handle."

It's really more of a general term for what Levi should do since this is his first Gala. He was told that Galas weren't really held by the King often- the King himself, Levi sees, looks old, tired and very bored. One might even say that the King looks dead on his feet- as if he's a corpse standing stiffly while his subjects danced the night away.

Levi scans the crowd for something (or someone) much livelier, but he couldn't seem to find it (her).

He does spot Nanaba though, and the veteran is wearing a puffy lavender dress with a red belt and pink lace- it's also strapless. It's something Levi never imagined that the woman would wear, adding to that is the fact that the dress ends exactly on Nanaba's knees, which could only mean that the dress is tailor-made. Nanaba catches him staring, she nods to him and gestures somewhere on her left using her eyes, never breaking rhythm with her much older dance partner.

Levi does turn to look at what she gestured to, and the sight makes him pause.

Hanji's normally messy hair is curled into an updo, with fringe framing her face. Her dress is a blue and green gradient, backless _thing_ , exposing her skin inches above her ass with the shape of the letter V.

And what an ass it is-

Levi catches himself, annoyed at the inappropriate passing thought. Hanji's slender fingers are now holding an equally slender flute of champagne as she had accepted it from the young man who looks the very definition of a gentleman.

Aside from the sinful show of her back, Levi next sees the slit on her right side as Hanji turns to link arms with the man as they walk to the table area together. The dress is very form-fitting, with a thick silver belt and a thin halter strap that goes around her neck to meet in the middle of her small and perky breasts like a weird necklace.

Levi forces himself to tear his gaze away, lest he thinks about other body parts of Hanji- like her sun-kissed thighs, perhaps?

Needless to say, Levi decides to try and get himself drunk- which is futile, and he knows it, but he did try.

He did manage to 'entertain' some people who tried to talk to him or were simply standing near him in the buffet. The food really was delicious- the meat, beef and poultry did wonders to his taste buds.

He's standing alone, outside of the ballroom, on the balcony when his senses detects her presence. He must be just attuned to her after all these years, he surmises. "What?"

"Mission accomplished," she simply says.

He nods.

"The party's basically over, the King retired two hours ago and most of the nobles took that as a cue to start leaving. I hope some of them are true to their word, but I did already receive a cheque from two of my assignments."

"You... you did well, and I guess if you tried, you clean up nice," Levi manages to say.

"Is that your way of complimenting me?" Hanji laughs-

but it's less 'mad scientist' and more... soft.

He refuses to speak to her after that night as he tries to figure out what's going on in his head in solitary confinement. It takes about a year for him to figure out that he's simply turned on by her, also he may or may not have a growing little crush on the bespectacled mad woman.

* * *

**iv.**

It's after the retaking of Shiganshina.

Everybody spent two weeks admitted to a hospital inside Wall Rose, and what remains of the Survey Corps had come home to head quarters this afternoon, just in time for their first dinner as soldiers officially back in active duty.

What was once a full hall is now reduced to having occupants barely filling the long table.

Levi retires to his room after helping Sasha and Connie with the dishes, upon entry he pulls to take off his cravat and only then did he finally notice a figure laying on his bed, it catches him off guard enough that he almost jumps.

"Levi," it's Hanji. She's laying on her stomach on top of his sheets, brown hair almost fully dried and she's wearing a powder-blue pajama top. "Can I stay here for the night?"

He would've let her stay regardless if she took a quick shower or not. They lost a lot in Shiganshina- he's pretty sure the last thing they both need is to be alone with their thoughts. It's nice that she came to him, or he would've went looking for her anyways.

He shrugs his jacket off, starts unbuttoning his shirt, then approaches her and leans down; her hands replace her elbows, pushing herself up to meet him. Entangling his hand at the back of her head, he moves to capture her mouth in a long-awaited searing kiss; her eyes are fluttering close and she sighs against him before her tongue enters his mouth.

It's far from their first kiss.

She tugs him into bed before she resumes the kiss as her hands begin to unfasten his belt. A hand works its way down her body, from her neck to her spine, then to her ass. She isn't wearing anything aside from her underwear, and Levi is reminded of Hanji's boldness. "Are we...?"

If they have sex tonight, that'll be both of their virginities gone. "I'm sure, are you?"

Levi answers with an unforgiving kiss that he places on her neck. His pants come off next, then her top, "The bandage stays," she tells him before anything else.

She's talking about the bandage covering her left eye. It's probably not fully healed yet, so he doesn't question it. He trails kisses that went from her left cheek, her neck, her breast, her slim stomach, to her inner thighs and finally to her clit.

He starts sucking at the sound of her whimper. He sucks, licks, tastes and teases her with the risk of her thighs bracketing his head. He wets his index finger to tentatively place it on the edge of her tight and dripping entrance. His cock is painfully hard and needy, but he has to prepare her properly to make up for their inexperience; he knows it can hurt because he was raised in a brothel-

but he also knows it can be pleasurable.

After five orgasms between the two of them, Levi wakes up past lunch time the next day with Hanji eating on his bed, the tray and a second plate of food is currently abandoned on the table, "You're finally awake."

She's smiling at him, and he can hear his heart beating erratically insisde his chest. The afternoon sunlight shines on her, creating a sacred image, "Did you bathe again?"

"I couldn't very well work with your cum leaking from my cunt, could I? I rue the day the young'uns gossip about their superiors."

Levi can only roll his eyes at her as he kisses the outer side of her thighs, jostling the plate sitting on it. She must not know him very well if she thinks she can keep him from getting her _'dirty'_. Her definition of the word astounds him just as her standards of cleanliness bothers him.

* * *

**v.**

There had been bags under her eyes, she lost a noticeable amount of weight, she looked as pale as him under the moonlight, her lip was bruised and she looked tired.

Now that they've been in the forest for the better part of a week, both of them are starting to look better than when they first emerged from the river. Days ago, Levi didn't know if he'll live, but now he's determined to.

The sun is rising soon and the least he can do is make her job easier by getting up on his own. It's no easy task, but he does manage to lean his back against the root and trunk of the tree. His position made her panic as she didn't expect to wake up and find him away from her, but she calms down once her battle-goggles are in place. "You scared me," he watches her say.

"I'm here."

"Levi... don't die."

"I won't."

but instead of leaving to forage for their breakfast, she crawls over to him and sits down, also leaning her back against the tree. "I'm serious, don't die... please?"

"I'll try my best, and you?"

She sighs as she unexpectedly leans her head on his shoulder, "Likewise." She's been so afraid of touching him these past few days, that he debated if he should surprise her with a hug- only the thought of her crushing him keeps stopping him.

They touch again that night. Their dinners recently eaten, her hand sitting lonely on the grass as she contemplates the merit of using the river to bathe herself or not. She's surprised when his hand joins hers, he places it on top so he can hold her hand inside his own. It's not the perfect time to tell her something that's been weighing heavy on him for years now, but he tries to anyways:

"Hanji... I... you know, right?"

He turns to see her face only for their faces to suddenly be inches apart. She casually gives him a featherlight kiss on the corner of his lips, "I know, and I love you too. When the Jaegerists and I found you, I felt like my brain was going to explode and my heart would fall out of my chest. I took you because I refuse to believe that you've died- I'm not ready for that, I don't think I'll ever be ready for that. And I keep prolonging our stay here because I want to protect you for as long as I can, the rest comes after you do because I know your death would hurt me the most... and I won't be able to go on if that happens."

Tears fall onto his cheeks- he's crying?

"I love you so much, Levi. There can't possibly be any room for anyone else."

"what about the kids?"

"Kids? The hundred and fourth are barely kids. They're adults now, I love them and miss them and worry for them- but it looks like they're luckier than you'll ever be... So what do you say? Wanna stay here for another few days?"

It gives him something he didn't know he needed, a lightheaded feeling that puts thoughts in his head about the possibility of a future and it makes him warm all over. He loves her, she's his best friend, his lover and his partner in everything- the only one he's willing to trust with his life.

* * *

**i.**

Hanji smiles at the sight of her husband standing next to their four year old son as the wave chases them. Their kid looks a bit like a miniature Levi due to the same black hair and pale complexion, but the eyes and the rest of their son's physical features are all from her.

The cool sea breeze kisses her skin and she thinks that maybe the second one currently on the way will be a daughter this time...


	12. Counterparts part 4

Once she pays her father's last debt, it'll be some time before the Apothecary starts bringing in money that won't be used for the employees' salary or the business' maintenance. She won't have any money left aside from her personal savings; luckily there's three to five hundred bucks leftover from the Apothecary's monthly income. She's literally living from paycheck to paycheck, and soon she'll have to dismiss four or five employees, and maybe even close the third branch of the Apothecary.

One thing is for sure- she needs financial assistance. Soon enough, with the help of her Aunt, Hanji gets an invitation to the Eldian President's Birthday Ball.

* * *

"There are three wealthy characters that you have to watch," her Aunt says. Hanji watches the woman throw a pinch of fairy dust onto the mirror, and the surface conjures an image of a man with gold hair. "Warden Erwin Smith from Klorva."

Hanji rests her chin on her palm, putting the teacup down and eyeing the image presented to them. From her Aunt's eyes, it looks like she saw the Warden from a ceremony due to the presence of a podium. "He went to Maria's Military Mage institute four years before you," her Aunt explains.

"That's why he looks familiar, he was an upper classman."

Her Aunt nods and takes a second pinch of fairy dust, "This one is Changeling Royalty, his mother is the current Changeling Empress' second cousin," the mirror presents a looping clip of a man transforming into a monkey.

"Fascinating... and he can transform into any animal?"

Her Aunt tuts at her, "that's what a Changeling means, dearie. His name is Zeke Jaeger."

"I know who he is, Aunty- well, I know who his father is. Professor Grisha teaches Defensive Magic in school, and Zeke's half-brother was one of my tutees."

"That's all well and good but Zeke Jaeger isn't known to linger on Eldian soil since his failed engagement eight years ago. I'm not even sure if he's going to be there," Her Aunt informs her. "Moving forward- this last one is from the Winged territory."

Hanji watches the mirror's surface change again, her expression remains blank.

"Onyankopon, whose family has been dealing business with your father since the beginning of the ZaPothecary. The Apothecary supplies them with ingredients, but unlike the rest of his family, Onyankopon isn't a healer. He's an engineer."

"And you're sure that all of them are sympathetic to the apothecary?"

"Well, they're all looking for wives, that's for sure-

"What? Are you trying to marry me off?"

The older woman simply smiles, "It's an easy solution. If they don't agree to a business proposal, then go for a marital one."

"I see."

"Now, you know I'll try to be there on the night of the ball but if I don't make it, do try to remember that you're among people that are coming from different cultures. Do stay on safe topics, but don't be as boring as to discuss the weather, dearie- they're all from neighboring allied countries."

Hanji internally cringes at the reminder of the social etiquettes that she's still practicing as her aunt pats her cheek before heading out of the tea room.

Her Aunt's daughter is currently going through a sickness that happens when merpeople first live on land. She admires her Aunt for being able to live apart from her children starting from the moment they were born since most of her Aunt's kids had dominant merpeople traits. Hanji isn't sure if marrying someone with a completely different culture from hers is something she wants to do.

* * *

"Hey, how's your mission going?"

_"It's a transport job."_

"Yeah, so? How is it?"

_"Irritating as fuck."_

"I wish I was there," Hanji tells him. She watches Levi's holographic form soften at her words.

_"Yeah, me too... Are you... alright?"_

Hanji smiles for the first time this week, she exhales heavily, "I'll be alright. The nurse was able to put him down in time when he tried to rise again. It's... different... dealing with the undead corpse of someone you know, compared to strangers."

_"Are you going back to active service soon?"_

"Sounds like you miss me."

_"Answer the question, four-eyes. I need to know if they're already finding me another partner."_

"If I've recovered enough to attend the President's Ball on my Aunt's behest, I'm pretty sure I'm good to go for the next mission, but I don't know if I should book the military-issued doctor's appointment just yet. My Aunt is trying to marry me off, and so far I've turned down Moblit's proposal as well as two from stupid nobles."

_"What the fuck?"_

"I know, it's ridiculous! Those nobles didn't even know that I'm still alive until my Aunt casually spreaded the word. Shows what they know," she exclaims. "By the way, have I thanked you for saving me?"

_"You've been thanking me for the past three months, and it's getting annoying."_

She laughs, "Thanks again, Levi. I would've died if it weren't for you."

* * *

Levi sees her wearing an emerald dress with gold artificial fairy dust building on the bottom and up towards the slit. The slit reveals the side of her left leg, showing everyone the straps of her five inch heels, a deep purple that looks almost black; it looks like a physical representation of energy crawling up her body from her toes. The dress is backless, teasing him with the idea of touching her soft sun-kissed skin.

A dark-skinned man with well-groomed horned wings approaches her, and Levi crosses his arms.

"You know... if you wanna talk to her, you should probably go and do that."

"Shut up, Moblit."

"I'm right, though. Aren't I?"

"She said you tried to propose to her?"

Moblit shrugged, "it seemed like a good idea. She's been my best friend for so long, she almost died, then her father actually did, and last month she just closed the third and fourth apothecary branches three weeks apart. She needs help, not just financial- I can tell that she's not even getting enough sleep. I like her and I want to take care of her but... she won't let me."

Levi closes his eyes, sigh, then looks at Moblit. "I like her too, but..."

"You should go for it. I don't know how she feels for you and you don't either. You never will if you don't try," Moblit tells him.

* * *

She was dancing with a particularly bushy-browed man wearing a deep blue coat when he steps in, "May I cut in?" Levi asks.

"Levi!" she exclaims songfully. She smiles at the pleasant surprise, "Erwin, this is Levi, my partner. Levi, this is the very same upperclassman of ours that spilled fish sauce all over me many years ago."

"Hanji, no," Erwin chuckles. He does hand her off to Levi though.

"I have something to tell you after this dance," Levi says.

"Hm? That's nice, I could use a break from all this schmoozing that I'm doing. You don't even know how much I wanted to just sit in the corner with you and gorge down some food from that buffet over there."

"I'll get you a plate, and we'll talk."

"Sure!"

He giver her a tender kiss on the cheek as the dance ends, then he whispers for her to find them a table before he walks off to the buffet section. Levi's never really felt properly nervous before- scared and self-conscious? yes. Anxious? yes. But nervous?

* * *

It's fortunate that she finds them a table with enough privacy. It's partially hidden from view, and sufficiently out of the way.

"You mentioned that some nobles tried to propose to you..."

"Yeah, so?" she asks with her mouth full.

"You know... back when Mages were a race of monarchy, the Ackermans were formally entitled as Royal Knights..."

"This is delicious, you should really try this! Here," she holds out a roll to him.

Levi raises a brow, but he covers her hand with his own anyways, the roll squished in between. "Hanji, I'm trying to marry you," he states bluntly.

The roll falls to the floor when his grip loosens and her fingers let go. She laughs, "you're not serious, are you?"

"Do you think I'd risk my life to save just anyone? I hate the undead, but I came back for you because I like you _that_ much."

It feels like the musicians and their instruments became white noise and everyone bear witness to his confession. Levi knows everyone is busy brown-nosing and gossiping though, but he still couldn't help it if he looked down on his plate with red cheeks. Hanji half-startles him by slipping her greasy hand into his clean one, "Dinner first, then it's my turn to talk," she says softly.

The mere fact that she manages to eat with her left hand to finish the rest of her plate says a lot already. They're formally engaged with both of their families' approval after five days. Kenny was hesitant to meet anyone-

he's in favor of Hanji though.


	13. Troublesome Tenant

Levi Ackerman is the owner and landlord of an apartment complex. Two conjoined buildings that share a ground floor, an underground parking area and his top floor ensuite.

Three apartments per one building's floor equates to twenty-four rooms occupied by tenants that, more or less, keep to themselves and keep to the rules. When Missus Zacharias, an old lady, told him that her granddaughter is moving in to take care of her, Levi thought nothing of it.

Enter Hanji Zoë, a Four-eyed Nursing Student that quite literally stumbles into his arms.

"Nyah!"

Levi cringes as the box sails to the floor and ceramic pots with soil and plants scatter everywhere. One hand goes for the railing while the other goes for the girl's wrist, "the heck?"

"Sorry, I didn't see where I was going-

"Tch, clearly. Why are you carrying a box of potted plants anyways?"

"Ah, I'm moving in with my grandmother today," she answers as she starts picking up the broken pieces of ceramic. "I forgot that she was allergic to some of my plants-

"There's an elevator working just fine in the middle of the complex," Levi informs her.

"I know, but... it's early so I thought I'd get some exercise or something."

Fortunately, they were on the ground floor of the buildings, so instead of proceeding to his ensuite, he walks to the direction of the Utility Closet instead. He unlocks it with his keys and takes out a broom and pan in order to sweep the soil from the tiles. "Oh, where'd you get that?" the girl asks as she looks up at him.

He doesn't answer.

His silence doesn't deter the bespectacled young woman, "My name's Hanji Zoë, what's yours?"

"Levi."

"As in Grandma's Levi? The Levi Ackerman she writes to mom about? So, you're the landlord, huh?"

He, again, doesn't answer.

"Well, are ya? are ya, are ya? Why are you using the stairs this early if you're the landlord?"

He dumps the soil into her cardboard box, "Morning workout, are you always this hyper?"

The red on her cheeks from embarrassment surprises him due to how flattering it looks on her. "Sorry, espresso shots at four in the morning wasn't a good idea."

It's barely 6 am- is this overgrown kid for real?

"Don't make a mess in my buildings."

"Technically, I'm only living on one of your buildings. Singular, not plural."

He gives her a deadpan stare.

She laughs, loudly and obnoxiously, "I promise that I won't make a mess. My cousin, Mike, is going to come over after lunch; he's got most of my things in his truck and I'll tell him to use the elevator."

He rolls his eyes, Missus Zacharias lives on the second floor. Levi sighs, he doesn't really care. The tenants can use the elevator as long as they don't break it. Oluo's monthly building maintenance check-up is impeccable and very thorough, so it's not like there's going to be a problem that can't be fixed.

* * *

"Oh, it's you again, great!"

Levi raises a brow. Has it really been three days already?

"I don't know why I thought you wouldn't be living here, but anyways, Nona and I baked a lot of cupcakes this morning and she told me to give out some of them. Here, have some," she pushes a cupcake tray to him.

Levi eyes the blindingly yellow oven mitts before he looks at the cupcakes with lilac colored frosting. Internally cursing his hidden penchant for sweets, he takes one, "Thank you," he says curtly.

Hanji grins- and he dislikes that he remembers her name when he can't even recall most of his tenants' first names because he sorts papers by surnames.

"So, do you live alone in this floor?"

Levi pauses mid-bite, he was about to head inside but apparently not.

"I saw the rooftop but it wasn't accessible through the fire exit," she exclaims.

"That's because it wasn't supposed to be," he answers.

"Oh. You _do_ live alone in this floor, then."

He nods once, closing his eyes at the heavenly taste of confectionery goodness. It was perfectly sweet- not too much and not too little sugar, the texture was incredible against his tongue, and the icing? Absolutely superior.

"Do you want more?"

Levi's eye twitches, can't he enjoy his cupcake in peace? He grunts, "I thought you're supposed to be giving those out?"

"Yeah, this was the last floor. Not everyone took some."

"I'll take them off your hands," his left hand reaches out.

Hanji smirks, moving the tray further from his reach. She takes one of the cupcakes before giving it to him- leaving him with four delicious treats. He grabs them before she can change her mind, his quick action leaves her stunned.

"Tell your grandmother thanks for me," he says before locking the door and putting the tray on the coffee table.

His ass touches the couch before he hears a response from the hallway, "Tell her yourself, greedy troll!"

He snorts

-but after another three daya, he does as she suggested anyways.

* * *

"Can you take us out to the theatre to watch _'Getting Creative'_? It's for English class, we have to write a play analysis on it."

Levi looks at his cousin-turned-adoptive sister. Warren Ackerman was the half-brother of Kenny and his mother, Kuchel, but he died in a Mall Bombing along with his wife and fifty other people. Levi was sixteen and Mikasa was ten, but five years after the adoption, Kuchel passed away; the doctors say his mother died in her sleep but Levi knows it was because of a broken heart. His mother still likes to look at his father's social medias.

Unrequited love must suck-

and he can't believe he's being forced to watch a play about it. Now he's sitting in the row above Mikasa and her friends: Sasha, Historia and Ymir. From his peripheral vision, he can see Eren and Armin on his left side, awkwardly writing something on their notebooks as they watch the play.

At first, Levi thought the genre would be comedy due to the title; then he thought it was angst for the first three acts. He realized on the fourth act that it's a girl's love story regarding her best friend- another girl. The title references how the protagonist had to 'get creative' in wooing their best friend.

Levi got up at the seventh act, Mikasa's being weird and Historia was tearing up, if Armin Arlert says another compliment about the actors, he's going to snap.

The actors of the play really are good, though. Their voice projection is great enough that Levi can still hear it even if he's standing in the back alley, scrolling through his phone.

"Hey, were you watching the play?"

He looks up and it's Hanji.

"What do you think of it, so far?"

"It's new," Levi answers.

"Yeah, what else?"

Levi sighs, "It's in good timing. The fact that it humanizes the gay community helps advocate the new law allowing same-sex marriage."

Hanji grins, "I didn't think of it that way! You're right, it is good timing."

The backdoor opens again, a girl with wine-red hair and a pencil on her ear comes out, "Excuse me, ma'am? We need you back inside."

The fact that Hanji left without even a by-your-leave didn't annoy him. Not at all.

* * *

"Getting Creative by Hanji Zoë sold it's 500,000th ticket today? Genderqueers Mass-buying?" Levi reads out loud. His eyes continue to read through the online article before pausing in his scrolling to address Mikasa, "You didn't tell me Hanji wrote the play!"

"Why? Do you know them?"

"Know them? She's living in the second floor of this complex," Levi answers.

"Oh, really? How can you be sure, no one's ever seen their face before."

Levi clicks on the article link about Hanji Zoë and he's shocked. It really is the same Hanji! Except they've got their head wrapped and they were wearing a navy blue suit. He's a little too surprised that he instantly recognized the damn half-smirk she's doing, and what's funny is that these articles aren't even sure of her gender.

"You know, I should bake her a cake to congratulate her," Levi decides. 

Mikasa snorts at him.

"You'll see, brat."


	14. I'm tired (Male!Hanji AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well, you know what Floch, because of your actions, I fucking quit."
> 
> He's tired.
> 
> Male!Hanji + platonic Levihan

"I'm tired," he realizes with a jolt.

It's surprising because Hanji Zoë is a man who's never uttered the words to describe himself before. He's always too enthusiastic, too overbearing, too crazy- too... much. But tired?

It's absolutely unknown territory.

Sure, he burns out from overexertion on dedicating too much determination to accomplish something- be it experiments or reports, and in this case, literally everything.

Sure, he's not Humanity's strongest. He's not a damn titan-shifter. He's not an Azumabito or Ackerman. There isn't anything special about Hanji Zoë at all-

but he is one to know what should be done. So he halts the carriage two blocks away from the fancy new Headquarters, and walks the market in a leisurely pace until he finds what he's looking for.

Of course there were stares, but he's stopped caring what they think. He's trying to get his energy back, and thinking of what they're thinking isn't going to help. "Got any coderoin?" he asks.

"Uh... sir?"

"Sell me some, pal, I'm buyin' like I'm dyin' tomorrow. Here," he takes out a generous amount of cash and hands it to him. "Well?"

"Uh, right away sir."

Jeez. The young man sounds so stiff like he's working a restaurant and not standing suspiciously on the curb

"Is it okay if it's in cigarette form?"

"That's even better," he takes all seven from the merchant's hands. Since everyone's watching now, he makes a show out of putting the six sticks inside his military jacket pocket, and then taking out a lighter. He takes a long first drag, closing his eyes before opening them again and slowly walking to where he's really supposed to be.

* * *

The people crowding the gates see him, he grins and finishes the blunt before taking out a second one. Levi only thought Hanji kicked the chain-smoking habit after Erwin died, but the truth is, he just didn't have the time. If he had, he'd probably be dead or dying from asthma or something.

"That means the relationship between him and the Corps matters to all Eldians!"

Hanji glared, Eren this, Eren that. That walls-damned kid, they really should let him do what he wants, maybe he'll learn and maybe he won't. "You shouldn't be asking me these questions when I was never the one leading the Survey Corps in the first place."

That got them to shut up, thank fuck. Hanji easily moves the teenaged reporter out of the way. He sighs, he couldn't help but think...

Zeke fucking Jaeger had Paradis dependent on him- had the whole military dancing on his tune, even arranged the Azumabitos demands as a stand in for Paradis. It's fucking stupid of the whole-ass military to depend on Zeke, but they did anyways, why?

Hanji can't even remember why.

* * *

He throws the second blunt in the hallway carelessly, then lits a third one. Takes another drag, can smell himself reek of the drug and grins, loving it. Loving the smoke, the high, the numbness and the general brand of euphoria that coderoin is known for.

He enters the room, he sees their shocked faces because there's no chemicals from the science lab that can cover up the stench. He laughs, "We've all got our vices, let's get this show on the road. Why'd you leak the information, Floch?"

Hanji sits down-

And oh dear **GOD** was that explanation an experience!

It's the single most stupidest, most narrow-minded, and most unaware excuse he's ever heard come out of a soldier's damn mouth. The fact that Floch is neither a rookie nor a footsoldier made it all the more hilarious. Even Erwin wasn't this naive when they'd been in the training corps together...

Hanji leans forward, slapping his own knee and grinning like he's someone from Maria's Western region about to yell 'yeehaw' or something like that. Except what he's about to say is much more exciting-

"Well, you know what Floch, because of your actions, I fucking quit. I'm done giving a fuck about all you new recruits because **NONE** of you ever really earned the Wings Of Freedom anyways. You were never one of us, you only **WANT** to be. Well, guess what kids? Everything you did wasn't something any of the past scouts would've done because they were _exemplary soldiers_ , unlike you, _disobedient pieces of shit playing pretend_! The Survey Corps were the laughing stock for **YEARS** \- they mocked us because we always came back from beyond those walls as _losers_. They looked down on us but we still stood proud, and you know what? you're the worst batch of soldiers I've ever had the displeasure of handling. So go, have fun, Floch. _Go suck Eren's cock and make him the Commander if you want, because I'm retiring_ ," He nods, stands up and finishes the blunt. Flicking the ashes in Floch's direction for the hell of it, then he walks out.

"Hanji-san!"

"Save it, Armin. Don't even dare try to follow me. Have the time of your lives, I'm retired!"

There it is again. re _tired_

He takes a particularly long drag that finishes his blunt way too quick for his liking- that's gotta be a new personal record, right?

Hanji laughs, a scratchy and throaty laugh.

* * *

After Eren made that announcement in The Paths about world destruction and all that, Hanji laughs again.

"That motherfucker," Levi curses.

Hanji is still laughing, "He made it sound like he's personally offended that Paradis grew up as the bullied kid of the class... but like, on a World-scale level."

Levi's dead-serious glare got him to shut up.

They're in the Zoë's familial manse in Sina, having tea in the sunroom, enjoying retired life when the announcement happened. Hanji pulls out a blunt before looking over at the man he considers his best friend and brother in all but blood, then he asks: "So... wanna go look at what your idiots are doing?"

"...not really, no."

"Ah, it'll probably work itself out."

Because, Hanji might have failed in molding the new soldiers into scouts befitting the 'Wings Of Freedom' but Levi did a pretty decent job with the 104th kids. Hanji's used to failure though-

And he's never really grasped the concept of emotional give and take because he's always giving. Well, thank goodness there'll be no more of that!

Hanji doesn't know when he stopped being a scientist, but every scientist knows that success is the result of multiple trials and errors. He should probably get back to experimenting soon, he's missed it a lot- maybe he should try his hand at cooking, if there's still something to cook and someone to cook for...


	15. SOtP outtakes (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Year 851 - Marley sends out their first survey fleet to Paradis Island. They are intercepted by the Survey Corps, who intern the soldiers present with the help of Eren and Armin's Titans.
> 
> An SOtP AU wherein Nanaba meets Yelena, and Hanji surprises Yelena.
> 
> So if you haven't read my other fic, 'Take my hand, Stand Outside the Paths' -it's basically a time-travelling AU where Hanji has telekinesis or psychokinesis. Reading it isn't necessary to understand this oneshot, because this is an outtake, meaning I'm not sure if this will make it into the final cut of that fic.
> 
> Hanji isn't overpowered in that fic because it's not Wanda Maximoff or Raven/Rachel Roth tier, Hanji's only power is basically just moving things with their mind but nothing else. They can't influence people's mind, nor magically fix a broken object, but Hanji can float in a sense that they control their body to hover from one place to another especially if they're too physically tired. Virgos are presumed to be overthinkers and Hanji just has too much trains of thoughts racing inside their brain. Hovering helps their focus.
> 
> btw Hannes lives.

**Yelena's P.O.V.**

"Please, do step into our humble island," The woman states after Yelena shot her comrade.

"I'm honored to receive your invitation!" She turns to address the Titan, "I've been wanting to meet you, Eren."

After the ship docks, Yelena is the first to approach the woman. "Are you in charge here, ma'am? You didn't introduce yourself."

The blonde woman shakes her head. "We will lead you to our Commander in a moment."

They're given a free show of Eren coming out of his titan form, as well as the new holder of the colossus. Yelena smiles in glee, making sure that everyone percepts her ease at the situation. Based on the reports, these island devils don't have the physical means outside of the titans to properly keep them subdued- escape shouldn't be an issue if it comes down to it...

The man holding Niccolo captive is still glaring threateningly at all of them though...

"I'm Nanaba, that's Levi. Don't mind him, we'll lead you to our Commander now."

Yelena is pleasantly surprised to find a woman that comes very close to her own height- she subsequently introduces herself before gesturing towards Onyankopon. "He can join us in meeting your Commander."

The others are lead to a guarded tent with its flaps open, it appears to be a dining area. A platinum-blonde woman with goggles is holding a gun with two swords sheathed on either side of her waist. The other members of Niccolo's ship are already sitting there...

"Rico, more captives for you."

The woman with white-like hair nods at Nanaba, "Anka's still in the Commander's tent with Owen."

Farther in, Yelena and Onyankopon are soon lead to another tent guarded by a lone soldier, another woman with ginger hair. "Anka-

"Inside," Yelena catches the glare that this Anka-person gives them.

"Where's Kenny?"

Yelena overhears Levi, but Nanaba nudges them to enter before she can hear the answer. What greets her and Onyankopon is the sight of a soldier in a colorless uniform that is different from the rest-

and a baby on the individual's lap.

"Oh, there's your mother, Owen. There she is, look," the Commander uses the baby's finger to point at Nanaba's direction; Yelena raises a brow at this.

"Sorry about the baby, I couldn't find a sitter..."

"I adore him, Nana. I don't mind," The commander lets Nanaba take the child before sparing them a glance. "Who's this?"

(Levi rolls his eyes behind the captives.)

"I'm Yelena and this is Onyankopon. We're part of the Anti-Marleyan group."

"That's oh-so-very-interesting, meeting room, then?"

"Meeting?" Nanaba asks, confused.

"Yes, bring Eren, Armin and Ymir. I want my titans in on this. Kenny, Rico and Roeg as well, but only if that Brigader wants."

(Rico and Roeg are Garrison and Brigade representatives by order of Zackly & Crown Princess Victoria/Historia)

As Nanaba leaves, Yelana takes the chance to speak. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name. Commander?"

The Commander frowns at her, Yelena doesn't miss the evident dislike in the individual's honey-amber eyes. "Just refer to me as Commander for now, to remind myself that I am who I am."

* * *

**Onyankopon's P.O.V.**

"Introductions, bar myself. This is Nanaba, my Deputy Commander, and her son, Owen Zacharias whose father died by Zeke Jaeger's doing," The Commander says as they gesture towards the first woman they've encountered.

(Mike dies at my RtS arc, spoiler)

"These are the Ackermans, Kenny and Levi-

"We're the glorified bodyguards," the older Ackerman cuts in.

"This is Roeg, he's from a different branch of the military which is why I've decided to include him." The commander addresses Roeg, "Glad you're here."

Onyankopon sees Roeg glare for a second before he responds, "Only here to do my job as a representative."

"Carrying on, this is Rico. She's also a representative of another military branch, and lastly I can only presume that you've met Eren."

Eren Jaeger- Zeke's brother through his father -raises a hand in greeting before the commander continues. "This is Armin- the colossus, and Ymir- the Jaw titan."

"First things first, why'd you kill your comrade?" Levi Ackerman asks Yelena.

"He wasn't a member of the movement to free the Eldians, and we needed to ensure you that we'd be your allies. I doubt his patriotic presence would've helped things."

"Is this some type of gun?" Kenny Ackerman asks as he inspects the item set in front of their side of the table.

Onyankopon nods, "It's standard equipment for Marleyans."

"Hey, Hanji. I wanna try something," Kenny says, standing up and looking to the commander for permission.

_'Hanji, huh. That's their name.'_

"Yes, what is it?"

Kenny unsheathes one of his swords from its leather scabbard; Onyankopon squints at the obsidian-looking material, it is black in color but has a matted and veiny surface. Kenny throws the gun in the air and swings his sword at it. He and Yelena hear a resounding clang as weapon meets weapon.

His eyes widen when the gun lays on the sand, diagonally split in half. Kenny laughs, Levi smirks, their female shifter laughs too and Commander Hanji's eyes look skywards as if frustrated by the unexpected show.

"What- How can that be?"

"We can't be bodyguards if our weapons are subpar," Levi tells Yelena.

"The Queen herself forged our blades. There's only eight of them in existence," Kenny adds.

"Queen? Fuck's sake, Kenny-

The female shifter, Ymir, cuts off Roeg, "Technically, she is. If Historia's the crowned Princess, that means that Hanji's our King."

Kenny grins widely, "See, Ymir's vibin' with me."

The Colossus holder lets out a groan.

"I am nobody's monarch, can we proceed? And stop using slangs from teenagers." Commander Hanji then turns to Yelena, "Excuse that, but do tell us more of the Marleyan Army."

"Right... Each of the Army's divisions consists of about 20,000 soldiers. With fifty divisions in total, that comes out to about a million soldiers." Yelena sips from the provided tea cup before continuing, "Then add the three fleets consisting of twenty-one battle ships to the army's number..."

* * *

As Yelena proceeds to divulge information, she notices that Commander Hanji does not seem to be in any kind of shock or surprise at the numbers. Yelena then inquires her concern, "You must've killed all the titans on the island. Is that what happened?"

Commander Hanji nods, "We've also recovered Zeke Jaeger's mother, Dina Fritz. She's being contained along with the last surviving victim of Zeke's assault on Ragako- the mother of one of my soldiers. Ymir has already volunteered to end her term by being fed to Dina, she has royal blood and that must be where Zeke inherited his power to control his transformed titans. According to Grisha Jaeger's journals, Dina was a very dedicated restorationist and their goal is to free Eldians from beyond the wall from Marley's oppression. It aligns with our own goals because, as you can see, the citizens of this island are the ones who suffer from the mindless titans that came from Marley. It seems as if both Eldians from inside and outside the walls are being pitted against one another, right?"

"I... suppose you're right. And Zeke- he- he'll want to hear about this-

The commander cuts her off, "Did I say anything about telling Zeke Jaeger?"

"Nope," Kenny answers.

"You didn't," Eren states.

Yelena notices the tinge of wariness and distrust in Eren's eyes now.

"What's the second reason, Yelena?"

Right- Marley's at war with multiple countries whose forces have formed an alliance against titans...

* * *

"...and in exchange, Zeke only requests that he be given sanctuary in your island for the remainder of his lifetime, and to be introduced to Eren, his half-brother."

Nanaba slams her hand on the table, "That bastard!"

"After everything he did?"

"I'll kill him," Eren claims.

Rico pushes her goggles up as she deadpans, "He's got some nerve."

"Well, Hanji?"

"Calm down, everyone. Yelena, obviously we have no wishes to work with Zeke but your proposal of a liaison is intriguing. Roeg, you may report this meeting to the Capital- same for you as well, Rico, as I will be writing to Pixis anyways."

The Commander then raises her hand, he and Yelena presumed that it's a dismissive gesture so they stood up-

but it wasn't.

Onyankopon watches in silence as the two separated pieces of the gun start to rise as if pulled by an invisible string. Commander Hanji moves their hand and the pieces float in their direction; they twirl their index finger and the pieces turn obediently. The Commander hums before her hand does a sweeping motion, the two pieces of the gun emits a soft thud as it falls like leaves onto the wooden surface.

He leans over to whisper something towards Yelena, "This is the voodoo-hoodoo thing that my grandparents used to scare me with."

Onyankopon doesn't take his eyes off of the Commander- the Queen, King -the Witch.

* * *

Hours later, as they're grouped to sleep on bedrolls inside tents, Yelena nudges him with her own whisper.

"They didn't walk."

"Huh?"

"The Commander didn't walk out of the tent. They hovered inches above the ground- didn't you notice?"

Onyankopon shakes his head. He didn't notice, because he was taking note of something else, "They have more female soldiers than men."

"Hm? Oh, I suppose that's right too."

"And they're hiding something else."

Yelena nods, "Commander didn't seem too alarmed by my information too..."

"They said that the commander is smart. Perhaps they've expected this," Onyankopon suggests.

"Maybe they don't feel threatened."

He shrugs at that. There's no logical explanation for someone to have the true power of will- wherein they can literally beckon something and that something simply obeys. How is that even normal?

Island Devils, indeed...


	16. Exploring Hanji Zoë's Hypothetical Birthchart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is not by me. I'm just posting it for my girlfriend, who suddenly woke me up at 5 am on a Tuesday- but because I love her, i dont mind.

**Exploring Hanji Zoë's hypothetical birth chart by Screen Tigress**

  * **Sun in ♍Virgo♍ (earth):**



After the pomp and grandeur of its journey through Leo, the Sun in Virgo brings its focus to more practical concerns. It is the natural counterbalance for all the hubris of Leo.  The creativity expressed through Leo must be channelled in Virgo  so that something can be harvested from all the ✨growth✨ that has occurred.📈📈📈

Virgo symbolically represents the integration of material resources so that these can be most effectively used. 🤓 (Hanji's the one that plans the where-which-how much regarding mission utilities like weapons, gear, rations & etc. Then after that, she's the one who really worked with the volunteers from Marley.) They lend quality control, practical efficiency and detailed help to achieve the most efficient and well-organized result. The ability to focus on what is essential and necessary is one of the great strengths of this sign. Virgo is traditionally associated with 🗒🖋 lists, details and protocols, 📜 (though not all Virgo-suns will display the characteristics of neatness and tidiness 🛀🏃).  They can be labeled as overthinkers. 🙂🤔😟

As a Mutable sign, Virgo is also characterized by qualities of duality, so that those with the Sun in Virgo tends to have dual strengths. They often have the ability to blend logical analysis with practical knowhow, combining a sharp intellect with solid skills.  Those with the Sun in Virgo usually seek to improve and refine whatever is at hand. To outward appearances they seem to live messy or chaotic lives, but internally they know what their goals are and how they will be realized. 💭📚 As this is also a sign of mental acuity, many of them are blessed with a sharp, critical mind.

They make great problem-solvers; Virgos can specialize in minutiae, clarity and detail-  few things escape their laser-like assessment once fully engaged with whatever is before them.  (Hanji realizing Floch knows about the 🍷 wine 🍷). Their mental acuity works best when there is something tangible to focus upon. They tend to make valuable employees and useful friends, owing to their capacity to dissect a problem, organize it, and then suggest practical ways to get the ensuing job done; furthermore, Virgo suns are associated with wit. One of the great challenges of this sign is the tendency to over-analyze. 🛌💭💭💭 They sometimes have very busy, active minds and it is essential that they find practical ways to ground and release this energy for their physical and emotional well-being.

When anxious, they tend to withdraw and become self-contained.  Those with their sun in Virgo are hardly inclined to dramatize or seek attention.  😩😖😟🙁 They usually prefer to deal with their problems in their own way, so that those close to them may have no idea about what is actually going on. (snk season 4's post-reunion with Eren, and post-punishing the scouts who leaked the information, Hanji was alone both times)

When there isn’t something external to focus on, Virgo-suns tends to turn their analytical impulses against themselves. They start worrying, trying to pick themselves and other people apart, to find what they believe must be the inevitable flaw.

* * *

  * **Moon in ♐Sagittarius♐ (fire):**



Sagittarius Moons often take risks based on instinct, and it's the reason so many visionary pioneers are born under this sign. 🔬🔭🎖🚂

They're a light-hearted soul, with an instinct for following the most meaningful path.  They are described by those who know them well as friendly, adventurous, active, curious, and independent. 💄👠💅👛 Usually they can be optimistic about the future and open-hearted, both of which are qualities that can be contagious. However, they may be impatient with those who choose to play the victim.

The Moon in Sagittarius has 💥 flashes of inspiration, along with the kind of hopeful optimism (this brings Hanji's many ideas to fruition).  True of fire signs, they are at the forefront of change (Season 4 - Paradis is modernized), and willingly shrug off warnings from naysayers, drawing on a well of trust in both fate and your instincts. More cautious souls might find them reckless (👱Moblit, 🕴Levi, etc.) but they are not all that surprised by how often luck is on their side.

Sag Moons have a need for emotional freedom. They require a partner who won't hold them back and can keep up with their active pace. 🕴👀

The darker side to a Sag-moon is that they may have tendencies toward being restless, detached, careless, and even superficial at times (Hanji when it comes to capturing titans and Oluo almost getting eaten because of how she acts). These negative traits likely stem from your innate and tremendous need for freedom- but sometimes that need comes at a cost to others. (Canon fact: Hanji is the scariest when angry, which is why there's a fire sign in their big three, but it's their moon- a feminine energy -which also explains how they can calm themselves down.) 😠😡🙄

Since the sign is more wed to a living truth than an imposed ideology Sags-moons rarely play the game of being politically correct (Yams saying Hanji values truth above everything else, and Hanji providing Erwin with the proof to start the coup d'etat in S3 via torturing Djel Sannes).  And with the Moon as its fallback response, this particular astrological configuration can be quite defensive. As a Sagittarius Moon, they have a fiery comeback when under attack, but it's often a wickedly funny one that may leave your intended target both stinging and laughing at the same time.

Sags are legendary for 🤐blurting🙊🙊🙊 out what's really on their mind ("btw Eren, nice hair- congrats on eating the Warhammer titan," and the "let's just live in this friggin forest, Levi" it fits Hanji's manga character sooo good).

* * *

  * **Ascendant and Venus in ♒Aquarius♒ (air):**



The ones with their Ascendant in Aquarius is interested in many different things, has a lot of friends, is relaxed and friendly. They keep a certain space between them and their loved ones, which may seem as if they're uninterested or uncaring. However, if someone needs their help, they would immediately give a hand.

The Aquarius Ascendant will work hard and focus all of their energy to make the world a better place. It's easy for them to come up with many ideas that can easily be put into practice.  💬🗯💭💭💭

They are energetic, friendly and always making new friends because they likes variety. Due to their inquisitive nature, (not kid!Hanji tryna shovel at the wall 😁)  it's possible for Aquarius risings to not do well with restrictions because they're a rebel.  😏😎 They will make many friends who think like her and are very active intellectually. Aquarius risings are oft seen as self-sufficient and independent. When it comes to work, Hanji uses many of their creative ideas to solve problems in an unconventional way; it's not their way to ever give up, usually taking projects to the very end.

Having high ideals, Aquarius risings are resourceful and can build a perfect life for themselves.  When it comes to love, they are rather rational and not open to sacrifice their own dreams because they need their freedom in the relationship.  🕴👀👀👀

Usually cool and easygoing, they will never panic, even if the entire world is threatened by a zombie apocalypse (or in this case, the almost fall of Trost, and then Hanji's reaction from the news at Utgard- asking Erwin to pull Annie, Reiner and Bertholdt's military enlistment profiles).

Aquarius risings oft have good responses to being offended 😈 (Hanji telling the MP's post-torture that "Yes, I am a monster, but you're 2 grown men stuck in this cell, lolhaha yamamero baka! Enjoy this cell for the rest of your life!" Hanji's Sag-moon kinda showed up for a quick second there too). They also don't mind too much when admitting that others may be correct, but they stick to their own beliefs  and have a natural talent for calming people down. (Hanji holding down Mikasa in RtS).

* * *

  * **Descendant in ♌Leo♌ (fire):**



This placement gives a personality with a great desire to be of service to other people. In the past, or in past lives, they were dreamy and unfocused, and paid little attention to detail.

They were in the process of connecting to their higher selves, journeying back into the cosmic realms within your own mind. Now, in this lifetime, their focus must shift to the details of daily life: in a constant effort to improve the self, to serve the self & others, and to remain alert to the myriad mundane details of life that do not leave much time for day dreaming. This is a difficult transition to make, but necessary if you are to fulfill your destiny, this time around.

* * *

  * **Notes and Other Possible Chart Placements:**



Hanji's birth chart practically contains the presence of all the elements- which makes their birth chart very stable. To make it really balanced, all they really need is an earth / water-influence, and it may come in the form of Levi and Moblit.

This hypothetical birth chart is heavy with fire sign energy, even though Hanji's an Earth sign- it does add to the canon idea of having a lot of fire-energy in the SnK universe though. Sags are charming as well, which explains how her eccentricities endeared her to even the Marleyan engineers.

  1. Mercury in Sag 🔥 gives a keen-witted and idealistic mentality, perhaps lacking in concentration. They have great powers of logic and deduction, but their thought process may be somewhat scattered. You are very direct in thought and expression and will say exactly what is on your mind. This gives you a reputation for having a lack of tact.
  2. Mars in Libra 💨 means the sexual nature is very important to them (being Non-binary). They feel the instinctive level of their selves powerfully, and they are quite sure of themselves. They have a noticeable presence and a strong influence on those around you, and like to get their own way. They also enjoy giving the gift of their affection; in any case, they benefit when they cultivate self-discipline, and strive for objective over selfish motivations.
  3. Jupiter in Pisces 🌊 equates to having expansiveness and abundant energy, and are likely to have good luck with the material side of life. They love freedom and independence, and possess a good level of optimism. They see possibility in everything, a person for whom the glass is definitely "half-full" rather than "half-empty". A feeling of can-do is therefore an important component of Hanji's self-image. Their enthusiasm may need to be tempered with a healthy sense of limitation. (which confirms that Moblit and Levi are legit 90% of Hanji's self-control)
  4. Pluto, the planet of death, in Sag 🔥 symbolizes a real powerhouse of energy, it gives Hanji a forceful personality with a focus on issues of authority, power and control. (Hence dangling Pastor Nick on the edge of the Wall)
  5. Chiron in Scorpio 🌊 may mean nagging doubts that they are not really good enough that motivate Hanji onwards- combined with a pure love of learning. There is likely to be some form of painful realization surrounding the pursuit of wisdom.




End file.
